


This is Where it All Begins...

by hannahlenore



Series: The Sterek Chronicles [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Masturbation, Mates, Minor Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Minor Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Oral Sex, Pining Derek Hale, Pining Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Sharing Clothes, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Spooning, True Alpha Scott McCall, Underage Drinking, Virgin Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-04 19:11:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6671668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahlenore/pseuds/hannahlenore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The pack is living in an alternate universe where all supernatural creatures are born with (or appeared when bitten) a "soul mark," that matches the one of their soul mate. It can be a star, a lightning bolt or just as simple as a red triangle. But, when Stiles gets his, tying him to a supernatural creature, they are all shell-shocked when it comes as a triskele.</p><p>Is his life over?<br/>Will he ever gain the strength to tell Derek?<br/>Will him and Derek ever get together?<br/>Also... What is wrong with him?</p><p>This is where it all begins...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Soul Mark

He figures it's the weather. The air’s been dry lately, right? No big deal. The skin on the back of Stiles' neck feels dry and irritated and no matter how much cold moisturizer he applies, it's still itchy and red. As Stiles puts on dark jeans and a red flannel, he can't help but stop every now and then to have a scratch at it. He goes into his dad's bathroom, after he leaves for work and puts on even _more_ moisturizer and it soothes it for the time being. He decides to ignore it, go to school and maybe ask Melissa about it later. What's a little rash, right?

Well apparently, it's a big problem. The whole drive to school he spends with one hand on the wheel and the other on his neck, itching. Maybe he'll ask Lydia about it at school, she's a genius right? She'll know what to do.

He parks his blue jeep and walks into the school, fighting off the urge to itch his burning neck. He instead makes fists at his sides and tightens his jaw. He spots Lydia, in a blue floral dress, at her locker, Kira in tow. He makes a beeline straight for her, aimlessly bumping into students on the way.

"Hey, Lyds. Can I talk to you for a minute?" he mumbled, not making eye contact, focusing on _not itching._

"Sure... Are you okay? You have a weird look on your face. Oh no, is this like last time?" she responded with a pained look on her face.

"No. That was one time, Lydia. This is serious."

"Are you okay?" Kira asked looking concerned.

"I don't know... I don't feel well and there's something wrong with my neck," he said.

"Outside or inside?" Lydia wondered.

"Outside. It burns like hell and itches like fucking crazy. I have no clue what's going on."

"Okay, come with me," she said grabbing a small pink bag from her locker with a resolved look on her face.

Kira and Stiles both looked confused and shared glance with each other as Lydia exclaimed, "Let's go, I know what the problem is." She walked away swaying her hips and smug smile on her face.

Stiles and Kira followed her, Stiles a little worried and Kira intrigued.

Once they made it to the ladies restroom, Kira and Lydia walked right in and Stiles stopped himself before he made that mistake. _Again._

Once the door swung shut, Lydia was back out in an instant. "Well, are you coming or not?" 

Stiles weighed his options and looked around to make sure no one was looking as Lydia dragged him in.

He leaned against the sink and stared at his shoes. "You gonna tell me what's going on?"

"It'll be better if I show you. Turn around."

He reluctantly turned around and looked at himself in the mirror. He could see his neck was flushed and his bottom lip was red from him nervously chewing on it all morning.

Suddenly, Lydia had out silver tweezers and was inching them towards his neck.

"Woah, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Stiles exclaimed.

"Just relax," she said soothingly, as she stroked his upper arms. "Take deep breaths. It'll be over before you know it and you'll feel better after, I promise."

"What the hell are you even doing, Lydia?"

"Just chill and turn around," she said impatiently.

He silently agreed, not daring to face the wrath of an upset Lydia. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Feeling the cold metal of the tweezers, he jumped a little.

"Are you okay?" asked a worrying Kira.

Before he had a chance to answer, Lydia did for him, "Don't fret, Kira. He's fine."

Stiles squeezed his eyes tighter as she began to pull on his skin that was itching earlier this morning.

Kira peered over Lydia's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about and reacted with a gasp.

"What? What is it? What's wrong with my neck?" Stiles panicked, shooting his eyes open.

"Just breath, she's almost done."

He closed them once again and wondered what could be wrong... Was it a curse? A rune? Some type of magical rash?

"I didn't know he could get these," he barely heard Kira mumble quietly to Lydia.

As the last of whatever she was pulling off his neck came off, the itching was finally gone and Stiles' anticipation to know what was gone finally bursted. "Will you two just tell me what's going on?"

"Look for yourself," said Kira as Lydia threw the large patch of dried skin in the trash with a disgusted face.

He opened his eyes once again and Lydia was holding a small hand-held mirror behind him so he could see what was on his neck in the mirror in front of him.

It was a black spiral shape. It looked just like a tattoo. It was just about twice the size of the quarter, but that wasn't the biggest shock. The biggest shock was that the spiral shape... was in the shape of a triskelion… as in the tattoo on Derek's back.

"Okay, I have... so many questions," said Stiles hesitantly.

"You can ask, but we probably don't have the answers," said Lydia, tapping her chin with her pointer finger.

"And refrain from rambling," added Kira, earning a glare from Stiles.

"If I'm guessing correctly, this is probably a soul mark. But only supernaturals get soul marks. Which makes no sense to me."

"It means that your soul mate is," responded Lydia.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" asked Kira looking nervous, yet again.

"I think so..." said Lydia.

"Derek's my soul mate."

_Shit._


	2. I Didn't Ask For This

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Holy Hell, what do I do?" Stiles asked tugging on strands of his messy bed head.

"Jeez, I did not see this coming and I'm a banshee."

Stiles pinned her with an angered glare, stopping his pacing.

"Hey, look on the bright side! You have a sole mate!" Kira added optimistically.

_Another glare._

"What am I gonna do? What am I gonna say? How am I gonna cover it? I will not wear a scarf like Wolfie #2 (Issac). Derek's gonna notice. Should I tell him? I can't tell him. How am I gonna look him in the eye now without thinking 'soulmate'? I'm fucked! Scott's gonna freak." Stiles was now breathing heavily, panicking. "Oh no, what's my dad gonna say? I'm forever tied to an exonerated werewolf? He's gonna see it. He's gonna notice, he's my dad. My life is over. It's over, Lydia, over!"

"STILES. Breath. You're gonna have a panic attack. Breath," Lydia comforted.

He continued wheezing and slid down against the white brick wall of the women's bathroom and prayed no one would walk in. He covered his face with his hands as his brain was going a mile an hour, full of thoughts all ranging back to the biggest question:

"How am I gonna tell Derek?" he asked panting, as he tried to find air that he seemed to be missing in his lungs. He then started counting his fingers.

1... 2... 3... 4... 5.

_He's not dreaming._

_This is really happening._

"Just breath for me, Stiles. Breath," said Lydia, clasping his hands in hopes to stop the shaking and his endless counting.

Kira was on the phone with someone, but Stiles didn't have the energy to wonder who. He just focussed on breathing.

"I know we're late, Scott... I know... I know... I think you should get here... Girl's bathroom by Harris'... Yes, I know I said Girl's... If Stiles is in here, you can be, too!... I know," Stiles overheard.

Kira's voice softened as she said, "Look, he really needs you right now, Scott. You need to hurry up and get here, now."

Suddenly, the bathroom door was opened and an alpha eyed Scott comes busting in.

"Oh my god, Scott, it's not that kind of emergency," said Kira, rolling her eyes.

"But you said..." Scott trailed off once he noticed his best friend sitting on the dirty floor crying. His eyes flashed red again, in a pitying manner. "What happened?" he asked slowly and quietly, crouching down to look at his friend, next to Lydia's own comfort.

Scott searched for Stiles' eyes as he looked off into the abyss of nothingness with his eyes wide and his mouth ajar.

"What happened?" Scott repeated, this time looking at Kira and Lydia, eyes flicking back and forth.

"Stiles, sweetie, you've gotta talk to us. Are you okay?" Lydia asked holding his head in her palms, like he was going to break any second.

"I don't know," he said. He was now blinking repeatedly and slowly shaking his head, avoiding all three of their gazes.

"Guys, is someone gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Stiles..." Kira said hesitantly.

Stiles sighed and turned his head away from Scott and rotated his body showing the mark to him.

As soon as he saw the black swirls, Scott knew exactly what it was. "Holy crap," he said, so eloquently.

"Yeah."

"What are you gonna do? Nothing's going to cover that."

"I've got this covered," said Lydia, determination in her eyes. The others looked rather confused as Lydia rifled through her bag, pulling out yet another small makeup bag. She opened it and pulled out a large gauze pad and medical tape.

Stiles stood up slowly, with the help of Scott, sniffling and wiping his face of tears and embarrassment. He leaned against the cold, white sink as Lydia got to work.

They all obviously knew Stiles wasn't ready to talk about the fact that he had a soulmate, let alone the fact that his soulmate happened to be their tall, dark and brooding co-alpha. So, for now they covered Stiles up, gave him a comforting smile and they all left the bathroom together.

They all noticed the halls were empty and Stiles let out an exhausted and sarcastic "Great," and made his way to his first hour with Lydia following close by. Kira walked to her class and Scott to his, as they all prepared for an expected lecture from their teachers about tardies.

"Mr. Stilinski, Ms. Martin, lovely for you to join us," Harris said as they made their way to their seats, looking defeated.

"Missed you, too, Harris," Stiles commented under his breath.

Stiles could tell people were staring, as he slowly sat down. Could they tell? Did they know it was his soul mark coming in?

"They don't know," Lydia said comfortingly, while she grabbed his hand from the death grip he had on his pencil. "They'd just think it's was a tattoo anyway."

"Yeah, a tattoo that looks really similar to one on the body of you-know-who."

Lydia rolled her eyes, silently communicating: 

_Are we ten?_

Stiles looked back frustrated, as if responding: 

_There are at people around._

"Are you two ready to join us?" Harris interrupted.

Stiles apologized and got back to attempting to pay attention, but Stiles' mind seemed to be somewhere else as he stared at his clasped hands and furrowed his brows.

-

Once the bell rang, he shot out of the room like a lightning bolt, leaving everyone else wondering what was going on with him... including Stiles himself.

Lydia hurried to catch up to him, but students were spread left and right. As she spotted Scott outside Ms. Walsh's room, she approached him.

"I can't find him," she said exasperatedly.

Scott just began walking as Lydia followed, Scott searching for his best friend's scent. As he continued down the hall, and down another, and down another, he gave up and checked outside to see if Stiles' car was even still there.

And it was. There sat the Jeep, in the second row of cars with a confused and hurt looking Stiles sitting inside.

Scott sighed and slowly started walking to his friend, Lydia stayed behind figuring the two needed a moment alone.

Scott slowly opened the passenger side door and got in. Stiles continued holding the steering wheel tightly and staring at his hands again with a lost look on his face.

Once closer, Scott could see unshed tears in his eyes that threatened to fall.

"I know this is hard for you. And I know it's only going to get harder. You didn't plan for this, you didn't ask for this- I know that. But we can't change what the universe thinks is right for you," Scott starts. "I know how you feel about him. The others don't, but I do. I've known even before you told me." The tears in Stiles' eyes fall simultaneously and Scott continues, turned inward, as if he's begging for Stiles to listen. "You're my best friend and I know you better than anyone. I know the look you get when you're falling in love… and you have it for him. I don't care about why you think it's wrong or why you think you shouldn't, because that look you get when you're looking at him and he's looking away, says all I need to hear. You love him."

Stiles takes one hand off the wheel to wipe his nose with the back of his hand and sniffles. He places his right hand on his left shoulder, across his chest and closes his burning eyes.

"It's scary, I know that. But that feeling..." Scott turns back over, looking out the windshield at Kira, now standing by Lydia. "It's worth being afraid of them not feeling the same. It's worth the risk of them saying no. Of saying that they don't feel that same hole in their chest when you're not around. But if that mark says anything..." Scott taps two times on Stiles' neck. "It says you're not so crazy for feeling this way."

Stiles takes both his hands and covers his face, hunching over, all the emotion from the morning sitting on his shoulders. He sniffled again and reached out and grabbed Scott pulling him into a light, yet loving hug.

"I love you," Stiles says, voice hoarse.

"I know," he says smugly, pulling a small snort from Stiles, who's face is pushed into Scott's neck, dampening it.


	3. The Look

After Scott and Stiles finally released their long-held hug, Stiles slid into the passenger seat and Scott moved into the driver's side and drove Stiles home. Scott helped Stiles into bed and asked, "Do you want me to call your dad?"

"I don't know... What do you think I should do?" he responded.

"I'd say talk to your dad. He might have some advice on how to talk to you-know-who."

Stiles have Scott a weird look. "Scott there's no one else here. You can say his name."

"Remember... werewolf hearing. Don't want to risk it."

"For being such a dummy, you’re pretty smart sometimes."

"I know right?" he said jokingly. "I'll call your dad, alright?"

Stiles nodded and turned over in bed waiting for Scott's return. It seemed like before his mind was racing and now it was moving in slow motion. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his chest and puffing it out as Scott went in the hall to call his dad.

-

"Sheriff?"

"Scott, why are you calling me at work? Shouldn't you be in class? Is everything alright?" he asked sounding tired.

"It's Stiles, he-"

"What's wrong? Is he okay?"

"Physically, yes. Emotionally, no so much."

"What happened?" Sheriff says, sighing, virtually pinching the bridge of his nose.

"He got his soul mark, today."

"... Isn't that a good thing?" he said sounding confused.

"Not when he knows who it is... and who it is- You know what? I think this is something for Stiles to tell you," Scott said.

"You can't just tease me like that and then not tell me."

"It's um... it's Derek, sir," Scott said hesitantly.

Sheriff just sighed. He knew that the relationship between his son and Derek was strictly on a friendship (more like bicker-ship) level, but it's always been clear to him that Stiles wanted more than that. He likes to think he knows his son pretty well, and even though they've never talked about it, he can see that look Stiles gets when they go back and forth. A look of sheer awe and fondness. Like he never thought he could meet someone that could reach his level of sarcasm, then along comes Derek to prove him wrong. So, Sheriff sadly gets it and knows exactly what Stiles needs.

"Okay... Scott, why don't you go back to school and I'll stay with Stiles today, and you can be with him after school, when I go back to work. That sound okay?" he said softly, yet determined.

"Okay. Do you want me to stay with him for now?" Scott asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I don't think he should be left alone with his thoughts right now- you know how he is."

"Okay. I'll see you soon, Sheriff."

"Bye, Scott."

Scott took a long sigh out of his mouth, puffing out his chest. He shook his head, heading down the hall, back into Stiles' room. It was quiet and Scott wondered if his friend was asleep.

He entered the room slowly and saw his friend laying on his side, facing away from Scott. Scott heard a sniffle and could tell his friend was crying again. Scott walked around the bed keeping his pace low and heart full.

His brother had his knees pulled up to his chest and his face wet. His eyes were puffy and you could tell he was holding something back. He looked emotionally lost and like he wanted to say something but just couldn't, wouldn't, wasn't going to let himself let go and say what he want-

"I love him, Scott."

"I know you do."

"What am I gonna do?"

"We'll figure it out. I promise," Scott said soothingly.

"I feel like I should be happy about this," Stiles said snorting and wiping his face. "The love of my life is my soulmate. But I'm not. I just feel awful. I was perfectly fine pining in silence, but no, the world had to go and practically shove me at him and say 'if you don't do something about it, we'll make you,'" Stiles complained, covering his face with his hands.

Scott reached out to run his hand over Stiles' shoulder, but before he knew it, Stiles was sitting up in bed.

"He doesn't love me, Scott. He doesn't. And I keep hoping all this is a mistake. Like I'll wake up and this will all have been just a big dream... or that this shit'll rub off," he says taking off the gauze pad on his neck, wincing at the tape being removed.

Scott sits at the end of his bed with his eyes locked on Stiles, letting him get it out. He knows he needs this.

"I can't- I can't tell him," Stiles says sighing. "It's just not an option. You know what he's gonna say; that I'm just some scrawny teenager that doesn't know anything about anything. That I don't know what I want. Even though... all I want is him." Stiles said wiping a stray, warm tear from his cheek quickly, as if he's embarrassed.

Scott reached out and finally put his hand on Stiles' shoulder giving it a comforting squeeze and said, "I know," ducking his head, searching for his amber eyes.

That's when Stiles broke down for the third time that day. He began crying, wracking his whole body, pulling his knees and hiding his face in his comforter. Any other day he would feel like a girl going through sometime of heartbreak, but today... today, he really didn't care. He was hurting and didn't care what other people thought.

Scott was shifting his weight, about to move next to Stiles to pull him into another caring embrace, but before he could sit back down, he heard a door close downstairs and then a fast pitter-patter of familiar boots up the stairs. He could also smell cologne and woods, a smell that could only belong to-

"Holy shit! Derek's here!" Scott whisper shouted, as if Derek wouldn't hear.

Stiles' glassy eyes went wide and he reached next to his bed to grab a tissue to wipe the remains of his tears and snot from his face. In a span of fifteen seconds, his face was wiped and his textbook was retrieved from his backpack and opened to a random page. The two boys attempted to look studious as the alpha opened Stiles' door with his eyes red and his face worried.

"Why aren't you guys at school? Are you okay?" Derek asked, the last part being more directed at Stiles, as he looked and smelled upset, hurt... and nervous.

Stiles wanted to talk but he just couldn't. It felt like there was a knot in his throat and he just couldn't make the words come out.

"Yeah, I just brought Stiles home. He wasn't feeling too well, so I figured he shouldn't drive himself," Scott fired out, taking the wheel and impressing his friend.

Derek could hear the lie in his heart beat, but felt too focused on making sure Stiles was okay to mention it.

Scott looked at Stiles for no more than a second and could tell he had forgotten to do something in those fifteen seconds they had.

_The mark._

Scott looked wide eyed at Stiles and cleared his throat, catching Stiles' attention. He then proceeded to tap his own neck twice, casually, similar to how he did in the car.

Stiles, as smart as he his, luckily got the message.

Derek could hear both of their hearts racing and was feeling more and more lost as the seconds ticked on.

Stiles, luckily now sitting with his neck to his headboard, reached over to his bag and pulled out a light grey hoodie and gently put it on, followed by the hood, careful not to make any wrong turns.

Derek was confused, but all he could think about was how Stiles was sick and how apprehensive that made him.

"Are you sure you're alright? You look a little pale and your eyes are glazed over," said Derek feeling like someone dug a hole in his chest for a reason unknown to him.

"Yeah," Stiles said, not having to fake his sniffly sound, because of all the tears shed today. "I'm just not feeling too hot. I think I just need some soup and to lie down."

Derek then began giving him this look that was a mixture of concern, awe and, Stiles wouldn't admit it, but Scott would... love. They both just looked at each other, lost in each other's eyes. Amber, golden ones, meeting deep green. It was almost like they could stay like that forever, and hell, Stiles wanted to. All that was running through Stiles' mind was soulmate, soulmate, soulmate, on an endless loop.

After about twenty seconds, Scott felt he needed to step in and break this up before they started making out right there in front of him. "Um... Derek, why are you here?"

They both broke loose of their trance and looking at Scott, like they forgot he was there.

"I tried calling Stiles four times and I got no answer and I just got this feeling that something was wrong. I was headed to the school when I saw the Jeep in the driveway." He seemed to be directing his words towards Stiles as he was looking at him, yet again.

Stiles seemed honored that the older werewolf was concerned and just sort of stared wide-eyed at him before stumbling out, "Yeah, sorry I turned my phone off... I was trying to sleep whatever this virus is off," he said apologetically.

"If you're sick we can talk later... ?"

"That sounds good. I think the Sheriff should be here any minute," said Scott, cutting in again and startling them yet again with his presence.

"Alright, I'll come by tomorrow," said Derek slowly backing out of the room, motioning his thumb at the door.

"Okay," Stiles blushed, looking down at his hands and pulling at a loose hangnail, trying to look casual.

And like that he was gone. The two teenagers sat, waiting for Scott's go ahead once he heard the Camero drive away.

Once Scott gave a curt nod, the two boys have a simultaneous heavy exhale.

" _Jesus Christ,_ that was a fucking close one," said Stiles, pulling his hood down.

"You better keep that thing covered if you don't want this happening again,"

"I'll send my dad to CVS tonight to pick up some first aid supplies," Stiles said, voice trembling.

"I think I hear him pulling up. I'll come back after school, okay?"

Stiles nodded and Scott got up grabbing his backpack from the end of the bed and headed out.

"Doesn't like him, _my ass,_ " he mumbled leaving the front door, and began walking back to the school.


	4. Trying to Forget

Once Scott was out the door, Stiles hearing the door click behind him, he was up and into the bathroom splashing cold water on his face. He wanted to get a grip and hopefully pull himself together long enough to talk to his dad. He breathed in and out greatly, examining his face in the mirror. He eyes were bloodshot and he had dark circles decorating his under-eyes. His cheeks were pink, which might have been from stress, tears or just the utter embarrassment of making a fool of himself in front of his soulmate.

"Good job, Stiles, really great job," he told himself in the reflection.

He scrubbed his now dry face with his hand and turned around exiting his bathroom.

Once he got back into his room, still awaiting his father's return he dug through his backpack for his phone. Once he found it, he saw that there were, in fact, four missed calls from Derek (under the name Almighty Alpha) and one from Isaac.

Isaac: Heard you were sick. How are you feeling?

"Just grand," Stiles answered, mumbling sarcastically. 

He decided to go with something a little kinder.

Stiles: I’m just a little under the weather. Weird bug. I’ll probably be back tomorrow.

There was also a text from Lydia that was simple, yet comforting. 

Lydia: I'm always here.

That put a sad smile to Stiles' face and he thought about how far they've come.

Another message was there from the Almighty Alpha.

Almighty Alpha: I’m worried about you. I hope you’re okay.

That made Stiles sigh and feel a pain in his chest. He couldn't tell if it was out of love, sadness or anxiety, but either way, he walked over to the nearest wall and slid down it. His phone was still clutched in one hand and his knees tucked up to his chest. He closed his eyes and just breathed for a minute. Flourishing in the sound of silence and the feeling of exhaustion.

He wondered what was taking his dad so long. He would get up and call him, but he couldn't find the energy to move. He felt comfortable and didn't want to let go of this moment.

Before he knew it, he was dozing in and out of consciousness, until he heard the front door open yet again. As an act of reflex, he got up and rushed to the bed, grabbing the gauze pad and slapping it back on his neck. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

"Stiles," he heard his dad say from his doorway. "You don't have to hide that from me."

Stiles pulled it off, hesitating for a moment, keeping his eyes at the floor feeling almost ashamed of the mark branding his neck. He moved back to the wall he was previously at, his dad eyeing the back of his neck. He sat back down, resuming his old position, sighing as he fell. 

He looked at the wall adjacent to him while his dad sat with him. His dad reached out and rubbed his hand comfortingly up and down Stiles' spine, knowing he just needed someone to be there.

"Do you want to talk about it now or later? I have a feeling it's been the only thing on your mind all day," said his father softly.

"It's all I've been talking about, too."

"Well, then maybe you should take a break, get your mind of things."

Stiles just nodded, as his dad stood up and held out a hand, pulling Stiles to his feet.

"Let's go, I brought supplies," said the Sheriff.

"More gauze and tape?"

"Nope," he said walking down the steps, Stiles following close behind.

"Then what do y-" Stiles stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what was in his living room. He felt like he was in snack heaven. Everything from ice cream, to Doritos, to sour candy, and all Stiles could do was smile. "Thank you, dad," he said starting to tear up again.

His dad sensed his distress and reached his arms out and hugged his son, something he didn't do often enough. Stiles just mushed into his dad, feeling the emotions of the day finally make their (hopefully) last appearance. 

He felt bad about getting his uniform wet, but he figured it's had its fair share of grime over the years.

"It's okay, I'm here," is all his dad kept mumbling like a mantra into Stiles' hair, and Stiles sniffled and whimpered, shaking in his father's arms.

"He was here," Stiles whispered between silent cries. "He showed up, worried about me and it just made me ache. It hurt right here," he said moving his hand between him and his father to rest on his chest. Above his heart.

"I'm sorry, son," the Sheriff said moving away slightly from Stiles, still holding his hands on his biceps. "Now I don't know much about all this soulmate thing, so I think I'm gonna need you to explain it a little more to me. I know Scott and Kira are soulmates and they have a matching soul mark, but I never understood why other people don't have them. You think you can tell me a little more?"

Stiles nodded gently and moved to sit down on the couch, grabbing some ice cream and a spoon his dad had sat out in the process.

His father sat next to him, looking deeply at him, like he was worried he would break at any moment. Little did he know, he already had _multiple_ times today.

He started eating and talking between bites, "Well, when you're born supernatural, you're born with a mark, but if you're bitten it comes a little later, but shows up nevertheless. The mark matches your soulmate's. Lydia's got one, Scott, Kira, Malia, Isaac, Liam, everyone. I was sort of the odd one out, but I figured I’d never even get one.

"But if your soulmate is supernatural you get a mark eventually. The mark is sort of a sign from the heavens and all that,” he continued, rolling his eyes.

"Wouldn't that get a little confusing for humans who don't know about werewolves?"

"Yeah, but it only shows up after you've been around that person for so long. Meaning that there's a good chance they do know. And if not, they're more likely to have it explained to them as soon as the person sees it."

His dad nodded and looked at the carpet taking a deep breath. "So, this means that-"

"Please, don't say it. I can't talk anymore about this. I just need a little time."

"Okay, how about I get back to work and you call Scott and tell him to get his butt over here." The sheriff looked at his watch and said, "It looks like school’ll be out any minute, so he'll be on his way anyway."

"I'm sorry you had to leave work. Scott was just worried. I sort of broke down after I found out. And then again when I tried to leave school... and then again when I got home. It's been an eventful day," Stiles said pushing his ice cream around the carton.

"I'd guess so... I'm gonna put this in the freezer, while you call Scott," he said grabbing the spoon and carton from Stiles’, now cold, hands. 

Right before he left he said, "Oh, by the way, I rented some movies for you and Scott, if you want to take your mind off things for a bit."

Stiles gave him a lopsided smile as his dad walked away and he mumbled quietly, "Best dad ever."

-

Once Scott showed up, he passed the Sheriff on the way out and he asked the question of the day:

"Is he okay?"

"Better I think. He's talking a little more and he only cried once, so I guess that's good,"

"Yeah, I had to change my shirt before going back to school," Scott rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Hey... thanks for being there for him, today. I'm glad he has you to look out for him when major stuff happens, like this. It's not so easy being a single parent."

"That's what friends are for," he said smiling.

"Alright, I'll see you later, Scott."

"Bye."

Scott made his way to the living room and found Stiles barely awake leaning against the armrest of the couch, watching Star Wars (typical) on a low volume. Today had been a mess of a day and Stiles deserved a little shut-eye. He smiled lightly and quietly walked over to his friend. He picked up a throw blanket and draped it over Stiles' slim body and by the time the blanket was on him, his eyes were shut, earning another smirk from Scott. He sat down next to him, grabbing a blanket for himself, too. If it was nap-time, he was joining in. He bundled up and rested his head back on the soft couch and watched the movie for the time being. It all made no sense to him, so falling asleep came easy as his eyelids felt heavy and they began to flutter shut.

-

About two hours later, Scott awoke to find his best friend with his head on his shoulder, snoring softly. Scott smiled and gently moved Stiles so he was leaning back against the couch. Stiles stirred, but quickly fell back asleep, before even opening his eyes.

He left for the hallway, leaving the blanket behind, and pulled out his phone, noticing he had a message from Kira.

Foxy: Hey. What are you up to?

Scott: Spending time with Stiles.

Then, he opened a message from Lydia.

Banshee Queen: How’s Stiles?

Scott: He’s sleeping, but he still seems a little off.

Banshee Queen: I figured he’d be upset. It’s pretty hard to get over something like this.

Scott: Do you want to come over?

Banshee Queen: Sure.

-

After about fifteen minutes of Stiles sleeping and Scott getting a started on homework, he heard the familiar sound of Lydia's car pulling into the driveway next to the blue Jeep and Scott's dirt bike.

He went to the door and opened it to find Lydia walking up, looking concerned for her friend.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Still knocked out."

She sighed and followed Scott in and sat next to him at the dining room table, that was littered with books and papers.

Keeping the conversation quiet, she said, "I feel really bad. I didn't know showing him his mark would screw him up so much," she started. "I thought I was helping," she said, covering her face with her hands. "I felt excited. Like things between them would finally spark up after Stiles liking him for so long. I just want him happy."

"I know, Lyds," he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"He said his neck was itchy and dry and I remembered that happening on my wrist," she revealed, holding out her wrist, and showing the red triangle that matches Jackson’s on his hip. "I just wanted him to feel that. That feeling of... love. I didn't know it would end up this way. Or it ending up being with who it is."

"I just think he's scared, to be honest. He doesn't want to mess up the pack dynamics by putting himself out there like that only to be rejected. And I'm... well, I'm scared for him," he said chuckling slightly and rubbing the lightning bolt on his collar bone, that matched Kira's on her forearm.

"This is going to be a hard week. I can already tell," she promised, getting up to grab a glass from a cabinet in the kitchen and filling it with water.

While she was filling it, Stiles stumbled into the room wrapped in a blanket, looking like death.

"Hey, buddy."

Stiles looked at Scott and tried a small smile that only made Lydia feel sad.

"Hey, Lyds. What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to stop by and join the party, obviously," she said. "I also brought your homework for you, since Scott was so quick to get out of school."

"Thanks," he said.

"I was also thinking the three of us, plus Kira and maybe Isaac should have a sleepover, to celebrate you getting your soul mark."

Stiles looked like he wanted to interject negatively, but Scott jumped in before he could, "No matter who your soulmate is, it's still a big deal."

Stiles sighed, "Okay."

Lydia looked ecstatic. "Okay!" Lydia cheered much more enthusiastically than Stiles did. "I have some calls to make," she said with a shimmer in her eye.

She walked away clicking her heels as she went.

"Well this is gonna be just grand," Stiles said sarcastically.

"I think it'll be fun."

"Yeah, we'll see," Stiles said doubtfully, while reaching into the cupboard and pulling out a bottle of Advil and popping two into his mouth, dry swallowing them in one gulp.


	5. Letting Up & Letting Go

After about thirty minutes later, the majority of the pack were spread around Stiles’ house. The only people that were coming, and weren’t there yet, were Isaac and Erica

-

The Camaro pulled up the street and slowed to a stop in front of the house.

"We don't have to go if you don't want us to," Isaac said softly to his alpha.

"You guys go and have fun. After all that we've been through, you guys deserve a break, even if it's just for a dumb impromptu sleepover," Derek said urging them on.

"We just feel like we're abandoning you or something," said Erica, honestly.

"You really think I want to hang out with a bunch of teenagers playing truth or dare on a Friday night?" Derek said raising his eyebrows.

"No," she said rolling her eyes. "We think you want to hang out with Stiles on a Friday night."

That made Derek stare at her for a few seconds as if all of the wheels stopped spinning in his head. 

Isaac shrunk back into his seat, hoping if he tried hard enough he would become invisible.

"I'll be fine, just go."

"Okay, okay, we're going." Erica said with a knowing smile as she and Isaac grabbed their stuff and headed for the house.

"This is going to be an interesting night," Isaac said chuckling and leaning into Erica's space.

-

In the house, the pack, including Stiles, all heard the familiar rumble of the Camaro and everyone turned to look Stiles, with the exception of the Sophomores who were oblivious to what was going on.

Stiles moved his eyes from person to person and said, "What?"

They all mumbled variations of apologies and got back to old conversations.

"So, Stiles, question," Liam ordered.

"So, Liam, answer," he responded.

"First, what's with the neck?" he started pointing at it. "And why weren't you at school today? Does it have anything to do with your neck and why everyone just looked at you when Derek got here?"

"Um..."

Stiles was saved by the bell, when Isaac and Erica came in the door without knocking or ringing the doorbell.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't skipping-Stilinski," said Erica.

"I wasn't skipping," he said.

"Mm, then where were you?"

"... I took a personal day."

"Sounds like skipping to me," Mason added.

"Just leave him be, guys. He's had a rough day," Lydia said, from her spot huddled next to Stiles on the couch like a safety blanket. She started rubbing up and down his arm comfortingly.

Stiles gave her a sad smile and put his hand over her's as a thank you.

"Okay, so are we getting this party started or what?" she said, opting to change the subject.

They all just ignored it for now and moved on, but no one was being fooled with Stiles' "just needing a day off" excuse.

-

They all sat around the living room, as if they belonged there and ate their pizza as a movie rolled in the background while they talked. Stiles was up moving around, looking out the window and pacing through the hallway. 

After a while Lydia got up and silently herded Stiles back to the couch, earning a snort from Kira. Lydia never gave up her spot next to Stiles, with Scott on the other, daring anyone to cross them. 

"I wish everyone were here," Stiles said sadly.

"Well, when we decide to have a last minute party people are bound to be busy," Scott said.

"True," Stiles said nodding.

"Enough with the depressing shit, let's dance," Lydia said pulling Stiles to his feet.

Stiles' face had a mixture of fear and exhaustion spread over it, but threw caution to the wind and grabbed his phone connecting it to the Bluetooth speakers Lydia installed months ago, for a moment like this. 

Lydia killed the movie and took Stiles' phone from him, picking a song to her liking.

When the first few notes of Fall In Love by Phantogram played loudly, bass booming everyone's face lit up like it was Christmas. 

Lydia mouthed the words as she was twirled around by a smiling Stiles. Lydia did a mental high five for pulling out the only smile she'd seen out of him all day. Things seemed slow-motion to Stiles as everyone started dancing and laughing, swaying to the beat.

Scott took up the whole room with his dorky dancing and Kira's laughing. Lydia danced around moving from person to person, movements never faltering. He noticed Kira's head tip back as she laughed again. Everyone was having the time of their lives and it felt good to forget for a while.

It felt like he was watching a movie unfold. He felt the music wash over him and his body felt he was floating. He realized he wasn't dancing anymore. He was just standing there watching all his friends. His head started hurting and his vision started to blur. He stood there feeling hot tears fall down his face. 

Lydia noticed and stopped dancing. "Stiles, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Before he knew it his vision went cloudy and then black. He collapsed on the floor to the sound of music and people shouting his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave you hanging like that, but I promise there's more to come all about what's happening to Stiles. Keep reading and have a great day! xo


	6. A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events

Stiles was flowing in and out of consciousness, his eyelids fluttering here and there. He caught bits and pieces of the conversation going on between his friends and felt a little guilty that some people weren't in the know of what was happening to him... and possibly to one of their alphas.

Scott shouted and pleaded, "Stiles! Come on, buddy, wake up!" Suddenly he felt a sting in his face and realized he was being slapped by Scott not to forceful but enough to hurt a little.

"Stiles," Allison said calmingly, trying to cancel out Scott's distress.

"What's going on? Has this been happening all day?" Isaac asked.

"We should take him to the hospital. I can call my step dad and have him looked at right away," Liam said.

Scott ignored them and turned to Lydia attempting to whisper but every werewolf could hear him clearly. "We should call Deaton. If this has to do with... his neck, we can't take him to the ER, they won't know what to do."

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on with Stiles' neck already!?" Erica exclaimed angry.

"He doesn't want people knowing!" Lydia yelled, annoyed, tired of everyone bothering them about it.

"We're his friends we should know!"

"It's not my secret to tell," Lydia said, suddenly quieting down, turning back to her friend, running her hand through his soft brown hair.

Everyone heard Scott calling Deaton from the hall, but he was sparse with the details.

"Deaton? Hey, um it's Scott... Not really, Stiles is unconscious and we need your help... We can't take him to the ER... Because something- something supernatural is happening to him and the ER won't help if it has anything to do with it... Okay... We're at Stiles'... Yeah... I'll see you soon."

He walked back in the tense room and everyone looked upset that he didn't even say what it was on the phone.

"You guys should leave."

"No, we need to be here, if Stiles is hurt," Liam said, like it was obvious.

"Fine, but..." Scott sighed and scrubbed his face over with his hand. "Lydia, what should we do?"

"I don't know," she sighed.

After a pause of Scott and Lydia thinking of a way to get their friends to ease up, a small groan came from next to Lydia.

She jumped and turned to him, grabbing his hands and said, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Jus tell 'em" he slurred out quietly.

She was surprised, but nevertheless turned to her friends, who looked at her expectantly. Then she looked to Scott whose eyebrows were pinched together in frustration and confusion.

Stiles was still falling in and out and he wouldn't even hear what they had to say anyway, but they just told them in easiest way possible.

Scott got up and picked Stiles up gently, sitting him up on the couch. Everyone moved around to the back of the couch to see what was under the bandage Scott was removing gently.

Stiles was still out of it and felt like he was in a dream. It was a weird sensation but the only thing he cared about was Derek. It was all he could think about. A loop of _Derek, Derek, Derek,_ kept running through his head and the only thing he wanted was for Derek to be there hugging him, holding him close and telling him everything was going to be okay. He craved Derek's woodsy scent and he wanted to just bathe in it. He wanted to touch his skin, have him close and latch onto him forever. He wanted his heartbeat to fill his ears as he rested his head on his warm, sturdy chest. He just wanted Derek.

_What was happening to him?_

"Oh my god!" Erica screeched.

Stiles grumbled in response.

"Holy shit," he heard Liam say in sync with Mason.

"When did he get this?" Allison asked.

"This morning. It's why he came home, but he was not like this earlier." Lydia answered.

Isaac gave Erica a look that was returned with a look that was a mixture of horror and happiness.

Isaac stepped forward and slowly touched his shaking hand to Stiles' neck and attempted to rub it off. It didn't budge. Suddenly his hand was overtaken by a heat that was unbearable to even a warm-blooded wolf.

He pulled his hand back quickly, as if he'd been burned and for a moment he thought he was. "He's burning hot! What's wrong with him?" He yelled.

Scott looked very worried as he touched his friend's hand and had the same reaction. "I don't know."

"I might," Dr. Deaton said, entering the Stilinski house, bag in hand.

Mason jumped and said, "Have any of you ever heard of a doorbell?"

Suddenly Deaton looked concerned as he made his way to Stiles, the teenagers parting like the Red Sea.

He put a gloved hand on his neck and Stiles grumbled and shifted in his seat.

"Do you two know how Derek's doing?" he asked looking at Isaac and Erica, unfazed by the soul mark.

They both shook their heads and Erica said, "We haven't seen or heard from him since he dropped us off."

"Maybe it'd be best if you called him."

"Don' tell 'em" Stiles grumbled attempting to get up but was stopped short when Lydia pushed him back into the couch.

"I won't tell him anything. I'll just ask him if he's feeling okay." Isaac said pulling out his phone and heading to the kitchen for, what felt like, the millionth call of the night.

Stiles seemed to be awake now so Lydia let him stay sitting up on the couch, but she stuck close in case he tried anything.

Stiles' half lidded eyes realized that everyone in the room had their gazes set on himself. "Will yo'll stop lookin' a'me like tha?" he mumbled out.

"I can't believe that you and Derek are mates," Erica said sighing. "I was starting to believe Derek would never find his..."

"Hold up, just because they're mates doesn't mean they have to be together." Scott said, turning to Erica.

"Mmmm, tell that to his neck and Derek's back."

"Jus' shud up," Stiles grumbled out.

"How's it looking Dr. D?" Lydia asked, holding onto Stiles' hand tight in her’s, afraid for her friend.

Before he could answer Isaac came back into the room and all eyes were now moved to him.

"Derek says he's fine. He sounded a little confused as to why I was asking, but I hung up before he could say anything."

"That'll make for a great conversation later," Erica said under her breath.

"I think it's not effecting Derek because of how strong he is as an Alpha. No offense to you," he said looking at Stiles, "but humans aren't as strong."

"How do we fix this? What do we do?" asked Scott, panicking.

"I can look into it. I don't have much experience with bonding symptoms, especially between a human and a wo-"

As a car door was heard closing outside, Stiles suddenly sat up as if life was brought back to him. His face had color again, his eyes were wide open and he was no longer slouching into the couch. He looked around like he had awoken from a nap. Scott noticed he was scenting the air slightly and it seemed to have clicked in his mind. That must be Der-

There were three knocks at the door and Liam slowly inched towards it.

Everyone's eyes got huge and they all shook their heads frantically and Mason grabbed his friend forcefully pulling him back.

Scott, quickly panicking, took off his hoodie and tossed it at Stiles who seemed more interested in looking at the door with a dreamy look on his face. The corners of his mouth flicked up right before he was hit with a jacket. He shook his head trying to snap out of it, bunching his eyebrows. He put it on quickly and put up the hood.

Finally after about a million knocks Liam opened the door and there stood Derek and all his glory. Scott swore he could practically see hearts popping out of Stiles' eyes.

Stiles looked even more blissed out than before. He bit his bottom lip and sucked it between his teeth taking in the sight before him. Derek looked worried, his face slightly flushed and his eyes large, surrounded by thick lashes as they took in all the eyes that were on him. He was in loose, dark skinny jeans and a simple white t shirt that made Stiles want to throw himself onto his body and never let go. He wanted to... He needed to... He just needed to touch him...

Lydia sensed his plan and put her hand on top of Stiles' thigh and Allison followed with a hand on his shoulder above him applying pressure that helped Stiles get a grip.

_What was happening to him?_

"What's up? Is everyone okay? Why's Deaton here?" he asked quickly, stepping into the house and looking around to see if everyone was okay.

"Yeah, we're fine," Scott said.

"I just sort of got this feeling after Isaac called like something was wrong. Like I needed to be here, RIGHT NOW. Someone needed me here. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" he asked.

Stiles' eyes softened again. He felt like he needed to be here. He needed to be close to Stiles, to protect him. He blinked slowly, still looking at the beautiful man, who was preoccupied in worrying about the pack to notice.

"Yes," Lydia said, still holding a firm grasp on Stiles. "Everything's fine."

He looked a little disoriented at that and knitted his brows together and shook his head, in a similar fashion to how Stiles was doing earlier.

Everyone could hear their hearts beating in sync and Scott rolled his eyes at the realization.

Derek stammered a bit and started making his way to the door.

Stiles scrunched his eyebrows and tried to get up to chase after him but Lydia pulled him back into the couch using as much force as she could. He just pouted and sunk back into his chair, crossing his arms.

Once the the Camaro rumbled to a start and drove away, everyone let out a collective exhale of breath. Everyone except Stiles who was still looking angrily at Lydia.

"Oh, come on, Stiles. That was a bad idea and you know it," she said, releasing her grip on his leg.

"Well, we know one thing for sure... you need Derek or you go crazy" Scott said grinning and trying to hold in a laugh.

"It must have to do with scent. He can only go so long without his scent or he suffers from withdrawals. If we're not careful, you could die." Deaton said rather seriously.

Stiles seemed to be back to his normal self, now that Derek was gone and he was thinking clearly. He responding with a sarcastic "Great" and everyone had a look of either stress, exhaustion or was amused; Erica primarily.

-

Deaton finished looking over Stiles once more, while the whole room was oddly quiet, thinking over the previous events of the night.

"He should be fine for the rest of the night, but in the morning he'll need to see Derek or he'll go through all this again," Deaton said, gathering his things and making his way out of the house.

"I'll make sure he does," Scott said.

"Call me if you need anything else, Scott."

"Okay."

Once he was gone. Everyone's heads were throbbing with stress, but Lydia was ready to salvage their party and take everyone's minds off all their troubles for a while, especially Stiles'.

"Alright. I'm thinking we should play a good old game of truth or truth to take our minds off stressful things and onto more interesting things," Lydia said squinting her eyes evilly.

"Oh no," Stiles said, closing his eyes.


	7. Truth Be Told

After about four rounds of truth telling, everyone seemed to be laying off Stiles. So, when Erica opened her mouth to pick her next partner, Stiles jumped in.

"Alrighty. I think I'm going to go wi-"

"Me," he interrupted and positioned himself in front of Erica. Everyone turned to look at him with a pitying look and Stiles had had enough pity to last a lifetime. "Guys, I'm not going to break. I just want to have some fun and I'm tired of you all looking at me like I'm going to shatter into a million pieces at any minute," he said trying to contain his anger.

"Fair enough, Stilinski," Erica said.

She cleared her throat and started with a question that made him roll his eyes; "Are you a virgin?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"No," She said proudly. "Since this question is rather fitting for tonight, are you gay?"

"No," he said. He leaned forward, looked in her eyes and said, "I flow both ways... You?"

"I'm a strictly a one way kind of woman. So, do you like the mark you got?"

"Erica!" Lydia yelled.

"What? Are we gonna get to the real questions or not?"

"It's fine, Lydia... Um... No. I didn't."

"Didn't?" Erica asked.

"It's my turn." 

Erica motioned for him to continue. 

"Did you really have a thing for me freshman year?"

If she was going to play dirty, so could he.

She tensed a little at the looks she got from her friends but answered truthfully. "Yes, I did. What did you mean when you said you 'didn't'? You like it now?"

"That's two questions." 

Erica rolled her eyes so he gave up and just pushed a big breath out of his mouth in preparation for what was about to come out of it. "For the longest time I liked him. Ever since Scott and I met him, really. He was this dark, dangerous guy and I felt like I could... I don't know fix him, make him smile or something like that. I just wanted him to like me and all we ever did was fight." He looked down at where he was pulling a hangnail off of his thumb and shook his head.

"Hey, you don't have to do this," Lydia said taking his hand out of his own grip.

"No, I need to." He said looking up. "Then, as time went on, it was getting harder and harder to just forget about. To pretend I didn't feel the way I did. It was like every time we were fighting or bickering my stomach was doing backflips and my heart was fluttering like a fucking butterfly... Wow, I sound like such a girl."

"No, keep going," Allison said softly.

He took another breath and kept going. "When I learned about Kate, I could let it go. It was in the past and she was a bitch, so it was easy to just forget about it. But then, there was Jennifer... and then Braden and it was like every time I saw him with someone else, it just chipped away at my heart. It was killing me to see him happy with someone else, but not with me.

"So, I decided it was more trouble than it was worth and I gave it up. I worked everyday to just stop loving him. I tried to stop hanging out with him. I tried to stop thinking about him, talking about him, everything. And it just wasn't enough. But overtime, I guess, it got easier. I started to forget the feelings that were eating me alive every time I saw him.

"When I saw the mark it was like this bittersweet moment of, 'Wow, the guy I've been in love with for years is my soulmate. We're meant to be' and 'Wow, the guy I've been trying to get over for years, the guy who'll never love me back, the guy who thinks I'm just some dumb kid, is stuck with me for the rest of his life.'

"So, now, I don't know I feel. All I know is that whenever he's around now I feel like I'm going insane with this need to just latch onto him and never let go, which I'm guessing has more to do with the triskelion on my neck than anything else." He laughed breathily with a sad look on his face.

Everyone in the room's eyes were all super glued to him through his whole story and never looked away for a second. They all thought he needed to say it just as much as they needed to hear it. Erica's eyes softened like she felt sympathy for him but Stiles didn't want any.

"So, whatever, story time's over, I need a fucking drink." Stiles got up and walked to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of his dad's.

"Uh... Do you think that's the best idea right now?" Allison asked.

"Yup. Dad's got the night shift tonight and this has been the most stressful day of my life," he hollered from the kitchen.

He walked back with a red solo cup full of what looked like whiskey. "You all can help yourselves if you please. The wolfsbane stuff has a red top."

Scott raised his eyebrows but got up and made his way to the kitchen.

"Alright!" Stiles yelled slapping his friend on the back.

Everyone got up from their positions on the floor and stretched out their muscles, trying to relax _again_ after _another_ intense conversation. 

Liam looked over at the clock and noticed the time. 11:00. They still had time to live while they were young, so he went to get a drink, too.

"Yeah, let's get the party started, Lydia." Erica said cheerfully.

She put back on the music and everyone was feeling a bit lighter with the liquid courage soothing them. They filled the whole living room with their dancing and laughing, making Stiles forget for a while. Forget Derek. Forget the mark. Forget about the love he felt inching back and about the pain in his chest when he thinks of Derek. Forget everything except the music and his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a much shorter chapter, but it's packed with a lot of past information to make the story make a little more sense.  
> The next few chapters are where things start to heat up, so be ready for that, too :)  
> Thanks for reading! xox


	8. Aftermath

Stiles woke up with a pounding in his head… and on the door. 

He slowly lifted his head from the couch and took in the piles of teenagers surrounding him. They were spread around the floor in various positions and red cups littered the floor. He groaned and stuffed his head back in the pillow trying to ignore the irritating sound that was overtaking his head.

The knocking only got more insistent and finally with a loud agonizing groan, he got up. He stumbled over bodies, pillows and trash making his way to the door and opened it with a tired and flat "What."

He caught a waft of something amazing that made his nostrils burn in a pleasurable way. He began to enter a dreamy-like state and he could feel his stomach flutter. Once he could blink a few times to open his dry half-lidded eyes, he noticed that it was Derek standing in his doorway looking wide-eyed and nervous. 

"Hi," Stiles softly, shocked to see him at his door. He praised Jesus that he put a bandage on his neck before he went to sleep.

"Hi," Derek returned. "Are you okay? You were acting a little off yesterday. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Stiles fiddled with his hands trying to distract them from the feeling of wanting nothing more than to reach out and hold Derek close. To fill his nose with the musky scent and have it blend with his own.

"Yeah, I don't know what's up with me lately. I'm just going through something I guess." He said, leaning against the doorway.

"Can I do anything to help?"

The idea of Derek wanting to make him feel better than he has been, made Stiles feel a certain type of way that definitely was NOT love.

Stiles raked his teeth on his lower lip and Derek watched the movement closely.

He thought for a second and said, "Maybe you can come see me more often? I like having you around and it kind of takes my stress away."

Derek smiled softly and looked at his hands. "Yeah, I can definitely do that," he said swallowing thickly.

"Okay." 

Derek looked up and caught Stiles' amber eyes that were illuminated by the sun. 

He eyes peeled away when he noticed the tape peering across the side of his neck, coming off of what looked like a gauze pad. He scrunched his eyebrows with concerned. 

"What's that? Did you get hurt?" Derek asked softly. He reached out to touch the tape but Stiles moved to the side before their skin could make contact. 

Stiles wracked his brain for an excuse but he knew Derek would know if he was lying, so he just stuck with, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"If you say so. You'd tell me if someone hurt you right?" 

"Of course. You'd be the first call," he said with no hesitation or second-thought.

That made Derek smile shyly again and a blush formed on the tips of his cheeks.

"I'll see you later, Stiles," Derek said beginning to walk away.

"Thanks," Stiles called out.

"For what?" He asked.

"For checking up on me." 

Derek smiled and walked back to his Camaro. 

Stiles stood there watching Derek drive off for a few seconds before heard a groan behind him and someone say "Doesn't like you, my ass," under their breath.

He turned around to see Lydia walking to the kitchen, swaying her hips left to right, muttering something about coffee.

He just sighed, puffing out his cheeks and pressed his forehead against the door frame, closing his eyes.

"Are you alright, buddy?" Scott asked, groaning and stumbling down the hallway.

"Yeah," he said closing the door. "Fine."

-

Once everyone went home, Erica and Isaac decided to stay with Stiles and let Scott and Lydia go home to recover from the previous day's events.

"Are you sure you guys can take care of him?" Scott asked seriously, looking between the two.

"I don't need a babysitter," Stiles tried, but the three of them didn't even look at him to acknowledge when he said.

"Yeah, Scott we got it," Isaac said.

"Again, I'm fine," he tried again.

"If he starts getting dizzy or pale, get him to Derek or Derek to him as soon as possible," Scott said.

"I can take care of myself."

"We'll call him as soon as possible," Erica said.

"Hello?"

Scott left.

-

Erica and Stiles collectively drank a pot of coffee and sat in silence nursing their hangovers. Isaac worked on getting the house cleaned up, opting out of drinking the night before.

"I'm so fucking tired," Stiles whined putting down his mug and putting his head down on the table.

"Literally or emotionally?" Erica asked, sitting across from him.

"Both, man... I don't know how I'm supposed to handle all this. I mean, I don't know if I should tell him or not, or just ride this out until, I don't know, it just fades away."

"I don't think it works like that,” she said sadly and comfortingly.

"I just don't want to tell him and have him be like 'oh well, guess we're stuck together. Love you, I guess,'" he said expressionless.

"You want to know what I think?"

"Give me anything, Catwoman."

She leaned forward putting her cup down, looking fiercely in his eyes. "I say, work on it out of order."

Stiles motioned for her to keep going, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Work on the loving part before the mate part."

"I'm not getting any of this."

"I've seen the way he looks at you. I've seen the way you two act around each other. You can practically taste the love in the air."

Stiles scoffs and sits back in his chair. 

"You may not believe it, but the rest of us do. I say it's only a matter of time before he cracks and attacks. So, wait until he does. Then you know he's legit without him knowing about the triskele on your neck. Then once you're all... you know... lovey, you can tell him. And it'll be even better because he's not settling, like you think he is, and you're not ruining his life, like you think you are."

Stiles lets it sink in for a minute and slowly begins nodding. "I think that's the smartest thing you've ever said."

She smiles, appreciatively and said, "Thanks, Batman," picking her mug back up as he did the same.

They took a sip simultaneously and a little tension eased out of Stiles' shoulders.

_He had a plan._

-

Stiles made his way up the stairs to get into the shower and wash off a day of crying and a night of drinking. He also had a little spring in his step after his talk with Erica.

While Stiles had some alone time, Erica and Isaac continued cleaning the house before the Sheriff got home to see the evidence. 

Stiles sighed once he got to his room, seeing the mess he'd left the day before. There were tissues on the floor and bed, his sheets were awry and his backpack was flung aimlessly, spilling half its contents onto the floor. He laid on the bed, his legs half-bend, feet swinging off the side. He found his phone where Lydia had strategically placed it under his pillow the night before, after he had drunkenly wanted to call Derek. To “call his mate,” he had said, slurring every single word. 

He flipped through his messages and found three messages. Two from Derek and one from his dad. 

He decided to get the worst of it over with and clicked on the one from the Sheriff. 

Dad: Hope you have fun tonight. You deserve it. 

That brought a small smile to Stiles' face. He was pretty lucky to get him as a dad. 

Then he read the ones from Derek and the smiles didn't end there. 

Almighty Alpha: Heard you were having a bad day. I hope you have fun tonight. 

The next one was from this morning. 

Almighty Alpha: Hey, I'm coming over. See you in a few. 

He sighed and put his phone back under his cold pillow. He laid there for a few seconds and thought about the turn of events from the last few days.

Two days ago, everything was normal. Easy. He missed that. Now everything's a mess. He's a mess. 

At least he had a plan now.

He reluctantly got up off his bed and went to the bathroom. 

He examined his face in the mirror. He looked tired. His eyes were hooded and decorated by dark circles, shadowing them. He slowly pulled of the bandage, wincing at the pull of the tape. He looked at the a mark again. He gently touched it like it was a treasure to him. He slowly began to feel a knot in his lower stomach. To be connected to Derek like this made him feel a little guilty, but he wondered if Erica was right. Did Derek love him?

He sighed and began to strip off his clothes. He turned on the shower and watched as steam spread into the air around him. He stepped in and let the water take over him. He began to feel the water melt away the knots in his muscles and the aches in his bones.

He closed his eyes and hugged his arms and suddenly envisioned Derek behind him massaging his hands into Stiles' shoulders, gently taking his pain away. He could practically feel the hot breaths on the back of his neck, sending hot tingles down his spine. Kisses on his neck almost felt real and he wished they were. He imagined large, calloused hands sliding onto his hips and pulling him back into Derek's front, their whole bodies touching. A warm hand went across his stomach, sliding in the hot water and began to wander a little lower. Just before the hand made contact with Stiles' member a pounding on the door broke him loose from him dream. 

His eyes flashed open and he answered with a voice-cracking, "Yeah?"

His heart was pounding a mile a minute as Isaac said, "Are you okay? Your heart's beating really fast." 

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do we need to take you to Derek?"

"No!" He said a little too fast, bringing a chuckle out of Isaac.

"Okay. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes. One-hundred percent," he responded looking down at his throbbing erection. "Totally fine."

"Okay." He said walking away.

Once he was gone, Stiles wasted no time getting his hand between his legs, tugging at his hard cock, looking to relieve some of the pressure. He sighed in pleasure, as he pressed his forehead to the cold tiles. He thumbed at the head while he thought about Derek doing it instead.

He felt a ghosting hand reach around him again, this time meeting the end goal. A large and gentle hand wrapped around his cock pulling at a rhythmic pace. Wet and warm kisses were placed on his shoulder, trailing up to his neck and finally to his weak spot. A pair of blunt human teeth bit down on his ear and tugged as he felt himself tipping over the edge. He came with grunting moan. His body shook through the after effects of his orgasm and bliss overtook him.

He didn't want to open his eyes. He didn't want it to not to be real. 

Slowly he opened his eyes and took in the reality. It was his own hand touching his body and the shower was empty. He felt tears burn in his eyes as he slid down the side of the tub. He pulled his body into a tight embrace and let the tears take over.

_What was happening to him?_

-

Downstairs, Erica and Isaac, even with their heightened senses couldn't hear Stiles over the running water and their music blaring while they cleaned. 

Almost the second they finished, the Sheriff got home, car door clicking shut. 

The two high fived and fell into the couch flipping on the TV.

"Well don't you two look comf- holy crap, I have never seen this place this clean before," Mr. Stilinski said mid-step walking in the door.

"You're welcome," Erica said smugly. 

He chuckled and asked the new question the day, "How's Stiles?"

"He's okay. We learned a few new details last night, but other than that, he seems fine." 

"Details?"

"We kind of had an incident," Isaac said.

"Incident?"

"Stiles fainted, but we called Deaton and he gave him a look over and told us that it seems like Stiles kind of has _withdrawals_ if he doesn't see Derek for a long period of time. Or rather smell him, I guess," Erica said.

"Oh boy." 

"Yeah... But he's up taking a shower right now," Isaac added.

"How long since he's seen the one and only?"

"I think he saw him at like nine this morning. He came over last night for no reason, too. Said he 'had a feeling something was wrong,' and he 'had to get here as soon as possible.' That was after Stiles fainted," Erica explained.

The Sheriff looked puzzled. He sighed, shook his head and just said, "Alright then."

-

Upstairs, Stiles finished washing his body thoroughly, hoping to remove the scent of sex off of him. 

With an ache in his head and a constant sting in his eyes, he got out of the shower. He put on a pair of light grey sweatpants and a cream long-sleeve tee shirt, that made him feel relaxed. He let his hair stay floppy, putting no product in it. He felt warm and comfortable and wanted to wallow in his hurt for a while, but he had a life to get back to. He couldn't hide forever.

It was eleven when he made his way down the stairs and found a remarkably clean house and the smell of bacon wafting in the air. 

He heard laughing coming from the kitchen and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. He walked slowly into the kitchen to find Erica, Isaac and his dad cooking a feast of breakfast foods.

He sniffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand and asked, "What is going on in here?" 

They all broke their laughs and turned to Stiles, who's eyes were red-rimmed with cheeks to match. His dad dropped the spatula he was holding and walked over to his son, enveloping him in a comforting hug. He rubbed his hand up and down Stiles' spine, helping relieve more tension Stiles didn't even know had come back. 

"I'm fine, dad," he said in between sniffles. "I'm okay."

"We made you food," he said optimistically. "That might help."

Stiles chuckled and slowly broke away from his father to get some food, wiping his face of tears in the process.

"Thanks for staying, you guys," he said smiling softly. "I know I wasn't too gung-ho on it at first, but I don't know what I'd do without my friends."

"We're always here, Stiles," Isaac said smiling.

"For sure," Erica added.

"So, I could really use some pancakes right now." Stiles said smiling brightly now, wiping his eyes again.

"Well, _you_ are in luck."

Stiles laughed lightly and grabbed a plate.

Maybe things weren't so bad after all.


	9. Music To My Ears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (I know this is another short chapter, but the next one's really fun and goes out of the normal scenery. Then, the following chapter has LOTS OF DRAMA, so be prepared to be on the edge of your seat :) All of the chapters after that are packed full of Sterek, keeping you all AND me happy. YAY!)

Stiles spent the rest of the day with Isaac, Erica and his dad, watching movies, playing video games and doing anything to take his mind off of things for a while. He was thankful for them but deep down he knew he needed to see Derek soon or things wouldn't be as nice for much longer.

Isaac and himself were playing a little Fifa when things started going downhill. He was already feeling overly tired and like he needed to just close his eyes for a minute. His eyelids were heavy and he was getting a little dizzy. 

Before he knew it his head was lulling back onto the couch and he could hear Isaac say, "Stiles, what the hell?" as he banged on the keys of the controller with his eyes glued to the screen. After not answering he could hear Stiles' heartbeat slow.

He looked over and saw that Stiles was unconscious. 

" _Shit._ " 

He got up in a rush grabbing Stiles by the shoulders, trying to shake him awake but he didn't budge. 

"Guys! He's unconscious! Guys! Call Derek!" he yelled to Erica and the Sheriff in the kitchen. 

They both came running out to find Stiles on the ground with Isaac shaking his head, trying to wake him up.

"Erica, call him!" Isaac said impatiently.

She got out her phone with shaking hands and called Derek. As the phone rang, she looked over at Isaac and the Sheriff looking over Stiles, trying to get him to wake up. 

"Stiles, come on, son. Come back to me," the Sheriff pleaded.

After three rings Derek picked up, with a casual, "Hey, Erica."

"Derek! Hey, um I need you to pick Isaac and me up RIGHT NOW. Please hurry."

"Okay. Is everything alright? Are you guys okay?" 

"Yes, just get here as soon as possible. It's important," Isaac said sliding up next to Erica, putting his head next to the phone.

"Okay, I'm leaving right now," he said. They could hear him stumbling over things to find his shoes and jacket but nevertheless they could hear the front door close in a matter of seconds.

"Please hurry!" Erica said before she hung up. 

-

Isaac and Erica whipped their heads up when they heard the sound of the Camaro driving down the street. 

"What is it?" Mr. Stilinski asked.

"It's Derek," Erica said rushing to stand up, Isaac following suit.

Erica grabbed a throw pillow and put it down on the couch. Then she had Isaac help her pick Stiles up and lay him on the couch as if he was sleeping. Next, she wrapped a blanket around him and checked to make sure his second skin, as Erica liked to call it, was still stuck to the back of his neck.

"There, it just looks like he's asleep. Right? ... What if he can tell?" she said nervously.

"He won't," Isaac said reassuringly.

Once they heard a knock on the door, Isaac scrambled up to open it.

As soon as the door opened, revealing a panting Derek, back in the living room, Stiles sat up in an instant with a big inhale as he could smell the sweet smell of his mate. 

His heart was pounding and his eyes suddenly illuminated a shimmering pink color. 

"Shit," Erica said. 

"Well, that's new," his dad said.

-

In the entryway, Isaac saw Derek's eyes glow pink. He cleared his throat and decided to not mention it. 

"Hey, what's up?" He said awkwardly.

Derek scrunched his eyebrows and responded, "What smells so good?"

Isaac's eyes got big and his hands were sweaty. 

Dammit, Erica should have done this. 

"I don't know, man... I think the Sheriff's baking something... ?" 

"Isaac, why are you lying?"

"No reason. Can we leave now?" Isaac said quickly.

"... Yeah, where's Erica?"

"Right here," she said making her way down the hall looking nervous.

-

Stiles could hear the beautiful sound of Derek's voice and stared at the door leading to the hallway. Suddenly, he was trying to get up, needing to reach the music to his ears. 

His dad, pushed him back into the couch and said a simple, "No." 

Stiles whimpered, needing his mate's touch. "Please?" He pleaded, wining the word out.

"No. If you want to keep this quiet, then you need to sit down and wait until he leaves."

-

"What's wrong with Stiles? Keep what quiet?" Derek said looking at his betas, who also overheard the conversation.

"I don't know," Erica lied, shrugging her shoulders. 

"Stiles, what a weirdo," Isaac said.

"Let's go!" Erica said clapping her hands together.

"Are you sure he's okay? He seemed upset," Derek said, concerned. 

"Yes, for sure. Let's go home!" 

"... Okay." He followed the two teens out the door. 

Once they were gone, Stiles' whimpers and sounds of protest stopped. He was hugging a pillow, lying face first into the couch. He was shoving his nose into the fabric, trying to smell anything but Derek. His hands made fists under the pillow and he was digging his feet into the couch. He was taking deep slow breaths trying to resist the urge to latch himself onto Derek.

His dad ran a hand up and down Stiles' spine trying to sooth him. "He's gone."

Stiles took a large exhale and slowly sat up, blinking away his tear-filled magenta eyes, turning them back to brown. 

They both looked down to his hands that were bloody and shaking. Blunt human nails had pierced his palms in the process of trying to forget Derek was there. 

"Stiles!" The Sheriff shouted.

"I'm okay," Stiles said panting, his whole body shaking. 

"No you're not. Come here,” he said grabbing Stiles by the shoulders, hauling him up and leading him to the bathroom.

Mr. Stilinski wrapped Stiles' hands and put a new bandage on his neck, as Stiles sat on the toilet seat in silence. 

"You're uncharacteristically quiet." 

"Why isn't it like this for him?" Stiles asked. "I'm over here a mess; hurting myself, not being able to control my body, practically having hallucinations about him and Derek seems perfectly fine... I don't get it."

"I think it has to do with him being an Alpha. He's in control. Plus he's dealt with not having much control before, so I think he's used to handling it by now."

Stiles dropped his head to play with the gauze wraps on his hands, furrowing his brows. 

The Sheriff dropped to his knees in front of Stiles. "Hey," he said tipping Stiles' head up by his chin. "We're gonna get through this."

"How do you know that?"

"We've been through worse and, I'm guessing, you and your friends alone have been through much worse."

Stiles smiled softly, but it disappeared quickly when he caught a scent of something wonderful and his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

He pulled out his phone first and read a message from Erica. 

Erica: Stiles! Derek's on his way to your place! We tried to stop him but he went all alpha on us. I think he knows something's up.

Suddenly the scent got much stronger and he looked up to his confused looking dad and said, "He's here," pink eyes shining in the night.


	10. I'll (Never) Forget You

"Oh God!" Stiles said beginning to pant and wheeze.

"Hey," his dad said shaking his shoulders. "Now is not the time for a panic attack." 

Stiles took a couple deep breaths and eventually the new color in his eyes dissipated.

"There you go. You can do this."

"Okay... Do you think you could, I don't know, go or something? The last thing I need right now, is my dad barging in on a talk like the one we're about to have."

"Okay. I need to get back to work anyway. I'm on the late shift tonight, so don't wait up."

"Okay, thanks Dad," Stiles said nodding and smiling softly.

"Alright, I'll see you later. Okay?"

"Yeah."

Stiles stayed sitting on the toilet lid for about five more minutes waiting for his dad to leave, knowing Derek was waiting for him in his room.

Once he heard his dad yell, "Bye, Stiles!" and the door lock behind him, Stiles stood up slowly and left the bathroom, taking deep breaths trying to control himself.

All he wanted to do was run down the hallway to his bedroom and just kiss him. Kiss him like he's wanted to for years. Jump to wrap his legs around his waist, Derek catching him. He would slide his warm hands down his thighs and eventually slide them back up, making contact with his sweatpants-covered ass, making Stiles moan into his mouth. He would grind down onto Derek making him groan in return and break their kiss to look at Stiles with hungry eyes. Eyes that were blown wide with lust. Eyes that were glowing crimson red or, if he was lucky, a beautiful pink to match his own. 

"Shit," Stiles said, snapping himself out of his daydream. He was half-hard and standing in the middle of the hallway, eyes glowing magenta. "Dammit." 

He rushed back into the bathroom, flicking on the lights, whimpering when he saw his eyes. He turned on the cold water, splashing his face with it, trying to get a grip. 

When he looked back up, he was panting and he yelped when he saw Derek standing behind him in the mirror. Luckily, his eyes were back to normal, but seeing him in the flesh didn't help the problem in his pants at all.

He just kept breathing slowly, in and out, trying to stay calm. He closed his eyes, incase they began illuminating again. He just needed him to go or he would do something stupid. He just knew it.

He was breathing heavily now, chest rising and falling greatly. He face was contorted in guilt and frustration. With his eyes squeezed shut, he prayed Derek would disappear or that he wasn't even there at all.

"Stiles... Are you okay?" Derek asked softly. He furrowed his thick brows and took a single step forward. He reached his hand out to make contact with Stiles' lower arm from behind, in hopes to calm him down, but it only made Stiles' heartbeat sky-rocket. 

His eyes popped open and suddenly the bathroom felt too warm for comfort. Moving away quickly Stiles tried to rush out of the bathroom, before he could touch him, but Derek stopped him before he could run.

He stepped in front of Stiles blocking his movements, careful not to try to touch him again. 

"Stiles, what is going on with you?" he asked genuinely concerned.

Stiles stared at his shoes as he opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to think of something to say and sadly, coming up with nothing.

"Don't lie to me. I know there's something not right with you, lately. I just want to help you. Whatever it is, I'm here. I won't judge, I promise."

Stiles looked up and that look in his eyes, was a look he could never get tired of. His voice sounded of love, care and nervousness and it made Stiles' chest feel tight. He just stood there for a minute, wide-eyed, looking at Derek, eyes flicking from his eyes to lips. God, what he would give to just lean forward kiss him. His stomach was doing backflips and he really thought about telling him. What he would say, how Derek would react. He said he wouldn't judge, but something like this changes everything.

Once his head stopped running around in circles, he realized he'd been staring at Derek for a while and... Derek was staring right back at him. 

Just the heavy, yet loving gaze of Derek Hale did enough to make Stiles feel butterflies like a fifteen year old girl.

You could cut the sexual tension in the room with a knife. They both could feel it in the air. Derek could smell it and Stiles could practically taste it.

He realized how close they were standing and every part of him begged to reach out and touch. He could feel the warm puffs of Derek's breath against his skin and he wanted- no he needed- to take that breath away. 

And there was only one way to do th-

"Can you please tell me what's wrong?" Derek whispered, eyes hooded and glassy.

Stiles just shook his head "no" but never broke the eye contact.

"Okay... If you ever do want to tell me you can. I'm always here," he continued to whisper.

Stiles felt himself shiver at the sensation of Derek's breath against his neck. 

He wanted to kiss him so bad it _hurt._

He wanted Derek to just take him right then and there. Pound him into the fucking mattress. Show him who he belongs to, marking him up and down his neck, leaving hickeys behind for days. He wanted the whole school to know he was taken and, better yet, taken by Derek. 

Shit, he was getting hard again.

They both just kept looking at each other in silence, going from lips to eyes and Stiles thought if he didn't get kissed soon he was going to scream. 

Right when Derek started to finally lean in, him being distracted, he didn't notice Allison and Lydia, coming in and standing in the doorway to the bathroom, looking smug. 

"Did we interrupt something?" Lydia asked, making the two jump.

"No, nothing," Stiles answered honestly, distancing himself from Derek and attempting to scratch the back of his neck, but stopping short when he remembered the bandage on his neck.

Allison looked genuinely disappointed, but Lydia wasn't buying it.

"Well, alright then. Derek, if you'll excuse us, we are taking Stiles out tonight... to Jungle," she said.

"You are?" Stiles and Derek said at the same time.

"Yes," Allison said.

"Well, uh... I'll see you later Stiles," Derek said awkwardly, not making eye contact. 

Stiles walked out of the bathroom and into his room, as Derek walked back down the stairs to leave, looking like someone kicked his puppy.

There was no way in hell Stiles was going out after _that._

The two girls stood in the doorway together, looking like they wanted to just lock the two in the bathroom until they finally got together, but they had a plan of their own. 

"You think this is gonna work?" Allison asked.

"I know it," Lydia said walking out of the bathroom. 

Alison followed muttering under her breath, "Doesn't like him, my ass.”

"Right?!"

-

"Guys, this is stupid," Stiles said, feeling embarrassed, lost and tired of all this bullshit.

"No, it's not. Now put this on," Lydia ordered shoving tagged clothing into his hands.

Stiles just sighed and walked into his bathroom doing what he was told.

"Being a sour-puss isn't attractive, Stiles," She shouted.

"Being attractive really isn't something I'm worried about right now, Lydia."

"Shut up and get dressed."

Stiles looked at himself in the mirror and was actually pleased with what he saw. Damn, Lydia was good.

He was wearing black skinny jeans, with his black converse sticking out of the bottoms and on the top he had a navy button down with the sleeves rolled up on and his hair gelled into a mess, after running his hands through it a few times. He also had a black watch on his wrist that he didn't want to know how much Lydia had spent on. His moles and freckles stood out on his pale arms and cheeks that were still flushed red from what his friends had walked into a few minutes ago.

He came out awkwardly biting his bottom lip, the tips of his ears red.

"Damn, Stilinski. You clean up good."

He looked up to see that those words came out of Allison's mouth. He grinned, the right side of his mouth turning up, eyes becoming more confident.

"What happened to your hands?" Allison asked, pointing to his gauze wrapped hands.

"Long story." 

After Lydia put on a new bandage to his neck, the girls grabbed their purses, Stiles grabbed his wallet, and they were ready for the night to come.

Stiles was just ready to forget for at least a night.

-

"Allison's the DD, so feel free to let loose," Lydia said leaning close so he could hear her over the pounding music.

Jungle smelled of sex and alcohol, the scent filling Stiles' lungs. The bass-rich music was flooding his ears and he loved it. 

He nodded and went straight for the bar to get a drink with his fake ID. He downed it fast making both girls raise their eyebrows. He ordered another and did the same.

"Shit, Stiles," Lydia said. "I was being sarcastic."

"I need this, okay? I need to forget. At least for a little while," he said seriously, looking between both of them in the eye. "So if you guys are done with the judge-y brows, I want to dance." 

He chugged down one more drink before walking between them, grabbing both of their hands, dragging them along. He could practically feel the bass coursing through his body as he danced between the two girls. All three of them were moving their hips to the beat, surrounded by men, all with their eyes on Stiles, who was painfully oblivious to the attention. 

Allison and Lydia looked at each other with shocked, yet proud expressions on their faces. 

After about ten minutes, one guy seemed particularly interested, giving Stiles bedroom eyes, as he was slowly gravitating closer to the teenager.

Allison winked at Lydia and they started to casually move away from the two. 

The plan was going _perfectly._

Stiles and the man, who was slightly taller and looked nothing like a stereotype, were dancing together, bodies close. Stiles had his hands on the other's chest, moving his hips as they were being held, helping him move more fluidly.

Stiles' hands moved up to his neck and Lydia knew the perfect moment was here. She whipped out her phone and snapped the perfect photo of the two. You could clearly see Stiles with one hand on on his neck and the other on his chest, dancing extremely close to his partner. His eyes were looking into his, as he was biting his lip. His older suitor had both of his hands on Stiles' hips, pulling him even closer. 

She grinned as she started posting the photo online, but she was stopped when Allison said, "Oh my god, Lydia, look."

When she looked up they were kissing passionately. Stiles had both of his hands holding the other's face as he kissed him back hard. 

Lydia's eyes widened, but she proceeded to snap another photo. You could even see the pink of a tongue between their mouths. 

"This is _perfect,_ " she said.

"This is really gonna get Derek going," Allison added. 

Lydia went back to posting both of the photos with a devilish smile on her face. 

-

Stiles was still kissing the tall brunette boy, seemingly never running out of breath, when the two girls separated them. 

"Oh-kay. That's enough of that. We're leaving, Stiles," Allison said.

"What? Why?" He said annoyed.

"We brought you here to let loose, not get an STD," Lydia said, peering at other guy who was already walking away. 

"Well, that was easy," Allison said.

"I'll go get the car," Lydia added.

"What the hell s'wrong with you two?" Stiles slurred out, obviously feeling the effects of the alcohol. 

"You're drunk," Allison said as Stiles started giggling uncontrollably.

"Yeeeeaaaaah." 

"C'mon, let's get you home."

"Nooooo. M'letting loose."

"No, you're getting drunk to forget about Derek."

"Deeeeerek," Stiles said dreamily.

"I know."

"I love 'em," he said, now leaning on Allison's shoulder as she ran her hand up and down his back.

"I know you do."

"Wish I didn't."

"I know."

"He's the worst, y'know?"

She laughed and said, "I know," before she started dragging him towards the door. "Do you want my advice?"

"Sure," he said sighing, suddenly feeling quite tired.

"Don't give up. No matter what... don't give up. Because one day, you're gonna marry that man... I just know it."


	11. Another Phase Of Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty dramatic chapter, but just you wait, because the next one is even crazier, The one following the next is the one you all (and I) have been waiting for... (also it'll include smut because yeeeeeesssss, that's why). Have an awesome day and thank you all so much for all the positive feedback. It's really giving me a lot of confidence in my everyday life and I really appreciate it :) Y'all are the best xo Hannah

Stiles woke up with a hangover... again. This time he was actually in his bed and when he rolled over there was a big glass of water, four tablets of what he guessed was ibuprofen and a note from Allison.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to read the note. 

_Stiles- Hope this helps. We love you! xoxo Alli._

He sighed and stuffed his head under his pillow praying that he didn't make a fool of himself last night, although he remembers something involving a cute guy and his lips.

The memory made him groan and pull the pillow even tighter, hoping if he tried hard enough he would suffocate himself.

After a few minutes of failure he reached around his bed looking for his phone. 

He retrieved it and then stopped for a minute thinking about how he got where he was.

He took in the fact that in a pair of pajamas and a white tee shirt. He really hoped he put them on himself and the girls didn't have to do it for him. 

That would've been humiliating. 

He sighed and looked through his phone. 

_No new messages._

Thank god, he didn't give his number to that guy from last night.

Right when he was about to put his phone down, it vibrated and dinged loudly earning a groan from the hungover teen. He recovered from the sound and opened his phone again. His heart started _pounding_ when he saw the message was from Derek.

Almighty Alpha: Don't forget pack meeting at 1. See you then -D

Stiles made another groaning sound, this time sounding like a four year having a tantrum.

"Fuck me," he wined out. He slumped back into the bed having a mental battle of whether or not to go.

He just barely looked over at his alarm clock and saw the red digits reading 1:05.

His eyes widened as he muttered, "Oh shit" and jumped out of bed, consequentially getting his legs tangled in the sheets and falling onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Uhg," he grumbled, getting up and rubbing his head, feeling a bit off after sleeping for so long.

He decided to opt out of taking a shower for the sake of time and instead wiggled out of his clothes, putting on a pair of jeans and a maroon BHHS Lacrosse sweatshirt, followed by his black converse. 

He splashed cold water on his face trying to wake himself up but ended up moaning and groaning for the millionth time and getting a few specks of water on his sweatshirt. 

He ran his hands through his hair and decided it looked just as messy as it always had.

He rushed out of the door and down the stairs, yelling to his dad "Pack meeting. Gotta go, dad!" Before grabbing his backpack and making a run for it.

Before he could here his response, he was in the jeep and driving to the loft. 

-

"Where's Stiles?" Derek asked grumpily and obliviously. 

"He's probably still asleep after the night we had last night." Lydia said winking at Allison.

Everyone in the room knew what they were up to the previous night. Everyone but Derek, who was sadly isolated from social media, meaning he hadn't seen the pictures yet. 

"What'd you guys do last night?" Derek asked nonchalantly, pacing around fixing the pillows on the couch and straightening up his bed. 

"We went clubbing." Allison said lightly, picking at her nails.

He stopped momentarily and said, "That doesn't sound like him."

"You'd be surprised," Scott interjected. "Here, look." He said passing his phone to Derek.

He stopped mid-movement, letting the pillow fall to the bed.

There he was. Stiles, dancing with someone else. _Kissing_ someone else. 

He dropped Scott's phone before he crushed it into a million pieces. 

Everyone in the room was silent, waiting for Derek to say something.

He looked and smelled angry, but under all that, the most prominent scent was hurt. 

Scott held back a whimper, knowing that his co-alpha was upset. He opened his mouth to say something. Something to comfort him, but before he could Stiles came rushing through the door looking like a mess.

His hair was disheveled and his skin looked pale, reeking of alcohol. He had gauze on his hands and neck, making him look like he was in an accident. He had shadows of tiredness ringing his eyes and he looked like he had thrown on the first thing he could find. But worst of all, his body smelled of the stranger he was dancing close to last night.

Werewolf or not, everyone knew Stiles' heart was beating a mile a minute. His chest was heaving and his wide eyes were looking at Derek.

Derek's eyes turned pink, softening Stiles' heart, but before he knew it they were Alpha red. He was about to move towards Stiles with an angry, murderous look on his face.

Scott rushed and pushed Derek backwards until he met with Derek's bedroom door. " _You_ need to calm down." He said before closing the door and turning the lock.

"Stiles, what the fuck were you thinking last night?!" Scott yelled.

Stiles' eyes turned pink, surprising no one, as the news had already traveled through the pack. 

"I was trying _so hard_ not to let my eyes change, just then." he said exhaling and bending over, dropping his backpack, trying to catch his breath. 

They all knew Derek wouldn't hear what they were saying over his own pounding heartbeat, heavy breathing and thick walls.

They were all still staring at him expectantly until Jackson broke the silence.

"You are such an idiot, Stiles."

"Hey, I'm trying my best here."

"If by your best you mean cheating, then yeah, you're doing great."

"We're not a couple."

"No, but you're soulmates. That's close enough, moron!"

"Jackson, leave me alone on this, alright? This isn't _easy_ for me, okay? You try loving someone who doesn't love you back! Try looking at them everyday knowing that they're supposed to be with you. Try being soulmates with someone who's not interested! Because, let me tell you, it fucking _hurts._

"So, yeah, I went out last night. I tried to forget the fact that I'm in love with him for five seconds. _So sorry._ "

He looked around at all his friends, chest heaving from anger. His eyes flicked from Jackson, to Malia, to Lydia, Allison, Scott, Isaac, Erica, Boyd and finally to the door Derek was behind. 

"I can't be here right now." he said, shaking his head, tears burning his brown eyes, about to spill over. He turned away and left the loft, slamming the door behind him. He ran down the steps stumbling a few times, but nevertheless getting to his jeep, whipping the door open and getting inside. 

Once he got in, his adrenaline was racing with how angry he was. Before he knew it there was pain coursing through his hand. He looked down to see blood dripping down his hand onto the gauze wrapping his hand and a bruise forming on his knuckles. 

Suddenly the anger was gone and his breathing slowed. He was crying. Sobbing and resting his forehead on the steering wheel. He gripped the wheel as tight as he could, ignoring the pain. 

He didn't know how long he's been there. It could've been hours. It could've been minutes, but he felt like utter crap for hurting Derek like that.

He didn't look up when he heard cars drive away or people walk by. He didn't waver even when his own car door open. He just kept breathing, in and out. 

-

Everyone stood in silence listening to Stiles fumble down the steps. No one moved. Not even the humans. 

When they heard the heavy slam of a fist making contact with something, all the wolves jumped and winced. 

They all could hear a whine come from Derek's room. 

"What happened?" Lydia asked quietly and softly.

"He punched something... He's bleeding." Scott said just as gently. 

"What's he doing now?" Allison asked.

"... Crying."

After a few seconds of group silence, Lydia walked over to Derek's room, swaying her hips and unlocked it, opening the door. She stepped inside and closed it behind her. 

Derek was calm now, sitting in the window seat deep in thought. She kept herself quiet and came over joining him. When she looked out the window she saw what Derek was looking at. Stiles was in his light blue jeep with his head in his hands crying.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She said softly.

"I'm great. Why would I not be?"

"Don't bullshit me, Derek."

"I don't know what you're referring to."

"How about the man sitting in his car bleeding and crying because he hurt you?"

Derek didn't say anything, and resumed looking out the window instead.

"We're all gonna head out to a movie to hopefully lighten the mood. Do you want us to bring you anything?"

"I'm okay."

Just as Lydia was about to open the door, she still felt a knot of guilt weighing her down. 

"I'm sorry." 

"What for?"

"I took Stiles out... I knew it would hurt you, but I did it anyway. I'm sorry." Lydia said, ashamed.

"It's okay. It's not my place to be upset, anyway."

"C'mon, Derek."

"I'll see you later, Lydia."

-

After a few seconds of sitting in silence Stiles looked up to see who was in his car, thinking it was Scott. But it wasn't. It was Derek. 

"I'm sorry." Stiles said weakly. "I never wanted to upset you. I was drunk and hurting and I made a mistake." He said looking at Derek with pleading eyes.

"Who was hurting you?" He said anger pumping through his veins. 

"Myself." Stiles said looking down, avoiding his gaze. 

"Why?" He said in a comforting tone.

Stiles sighed. "There's just some stuff going on right now, that I can't tell you about, and I just wanted a night out. A night to forget."

"I'm here if you ever do want to talk about it."

Stiles sniffled and dried his cheeks with his sleeve, smiling lightly. "Thanks."

"Can I see your hand?"

"Oh, it doesn't hurt that bad, I'm fine."

"Okay... I- I just- I'm sorry I got so upset. I get protective of the pack, being alpha and the thought of y- any of you, out there with a stranger, possibly getting mixed up in the wrong crowd really pulls that side of me out." Derek said. "I don't want you to get hurt." He added looking right into Stiles' eyes to emphasize how he felt.

"Neither do I." Stiles said looking right back, eyes red and tired.

They stayed looking at each other for longer than normal, getting lost in each other's eyes. Both of their hearts were pounding and Derek could hear that they were almost beating in-sync. Stiles licked his salty, tear stained lips and Derek followed the action with his eyes, swallowing thickly. Derek's eyes were blown and hooded and Stiles had sworn he'd never seen anything so hot in his life. 

"E-everyone went to the movies." Derek said, eyes still locked on Stiles.

"Oh."

"Do you want to come up? Maybe watch a movie, too?" Derek said ever-so softly.

"Sure," Stiles replied, just as quiet.


	12. Meant To Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooooooooooooooooooo. Things are getting serious.

Stiles and Derek sat on polar opposite sides of the couch, both not trusting in themselves.

They watched Cabin in the Woods, one of Stiles’ favorites, while the air in the room seemed less horrified and more hot and heavy between the two. Stiles kept sneaking sideways glances at Derek, hoping he wouldn't notice, but he did, making it harder for Derek to keep his distance. 

Once they were about an hour into the movie, Derek, feeling tired, stretched his arms above his head, revealing the tan, hard skin above the waistband of his pants and creating a tightness in Stiles'. 

"I gotta go to the bathroom," Stiles said, tumbling over every word.

"Okay, weirdo," Derek replied.

Once Stiles was in the bathroom, he locked the door and turned on the water faucet as cold as it could go. He looked up to the mirror and saw his eyes glowing bright. 

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" He asked himself, angrily. 

He groaned and quickly took off his gauze. He cupped his shaking hands under the icy water and pushed the liquid onto his over-heated face.

He looked up into the mirror again, and they were _still_ pink. 

"C'mon, Stiles, get it together." 

He clasped his hands onto the edges of the white sink, making his bruised fist throb and his cut palms sting. He focused on the pain and kept taking deep breaths.

"Stiles?" Derek shouted from the hall, sensing through the unknown bond that something was wrong. 

Stiles cleared his throat and tried to sound casual responding, "Yeah?"

"I smell blood, are you okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine! All good here!" He promised checking his eyes in the mirror. They weren't glowing, so he turned off the water, rewrapped his hands and met Derek in the dark lit hallway. 

"Why are you bleeding?"

"Oh, it's just my hands," Stiles said looking at the now bloody gauze pads. 

"Here let me see," Derek insisted, reaching out to take the tops of Stiles' hands in his palms. 

Stiles' eyes widened and pulled them away, stepping back before he could touch them.

"It's really fine!" He said laughing nervously. 

"No, you're not. Just let me help, okay?"

"You can't," Stiles said, out of breath, still backing away.

"Why?" He said quietly, almost sounding hurt, stepping forward, following Stiles' black silhouette, until he was right in front of him.

Stiles could smell his beautiful scent, full of the outdoors, leather and a specific smell that can only be described as _Derek._ He was surrounded and overwhelmed with it. He closed his eyes tight, worried they would glow again. He focused on breathing. 

In and out. 

In and out. 

"Stiles, look at me."

"I can't," he whispered, shaking his head.

"Why not?" Derek asked, reaching his hand out and placing it on Stiles' hoodie-covered upper arm.

This took Stiles by surprise. 

His eyes flew open revealing the pink glow, illuminating the whole hallway. Glittering magenta covered all the walls and the ceiling sparkled pink. 

He reached out, ignoring Derek's look of shock and confusion, pulling his hand off by the wrist, careful not to touch his skin.

He started backing away, chest heaving, breathing rapidly. 

"... Stiles?"

"Don't come near me," Stiles said stepping backwards until his back made contact with the bathroom door with a loud thud. 

"Why not? Why can't I touch you?"

"Because I don't know what'll happen if you do!" He yelled, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he sunk down the wall, breathing fast and heavy. 

"Call Scott. I need Scott," he mumbled out just before blacking out.

"Sti-!" Is the last thing he heard. 

-

"I don't know, Scott! His eyes just turned pink and then he started freaking out and then he passed out!... I don't know!... I _barely_ touched him. Why does that matter?... He told me to call you before he blacked out, shouldn't you know what to do?" Derek yelled into his phone before ending the call and throwing his phone onto the couch. 

He ran his hands through his short hair and sighed loudly. He looked over at the boy slumped against the wall and felt a warm sensation fill his chest. He had resisted to touch him, worried about the consequences, but it was hard staying away when he was hurt.

_What was going on with him?_

He eyed the bandage on his neck and wondered what was under it. 

_Why wouldn't he tell me?_

He slowly walked over to the limp, flushed boy.

_Am I really doing this? Is this a good idea?_

He reached down and just before he touched the tape, Scott busted in the door, eyes alpha-red.

Scott rushed over and crouched next to Stiles, trying to wake him up. "Stiles?"

"Hey," Derek started, pulling Scott's shoulder forcefully until he was standing. "What bit him?"

"Nothing bit him, alright? Something... just... happened, okay?" He stuttered out, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't raise suspicions.

"Wow, real helpful, Scott," Derek said sarcastically. 

"It's not my secret to tell," he said quoting Lydia and sounding extremely serious, worrying Derek.

Scott reached into his back pocket and got out his phone. 

"Hey, Deaton... Yeah, we need you again... Yeah, it's Stiles. He's unconscious again..." Suddenly his voice turned to a whisper as he said, "Just hurry, okay? It's serious," but Derek could hear him clearly.

He hung up before Deaton could respond, calling Stiles' dad next, this time leaving the loft so Derek couldn't overhear.

"Hey, Sheriff... Stiles is unconscious again... No, it's different this time... It happened when he was with him... I don't get it either... I called Deaton. You might want to get here... Okay, see you in a few."

When he went back into Derek's place he found him standing in the doorway looking frustrated. 

"Why did you need to _leave_ to talk to him?"

"Leave it alone, Derek."

"I _can't_ ," He said as if he was in pain.

"And why is that Derek?" Scott asked, innocently. 

"You know why," Derek responded, suddenly making serious eye contact with him.

"No, I really don't." 

"Don't play stupid, Scott. It doesn't suit you."

Scott just stared at him with his puppy eyes, silently begging him to just admit it already.

"Fine," Derek sighed. "I'm in love with him. You know it. I know it. I'm pretty sure the whole pack knows it... I just can't stand not knowing what's wrong with him, Scott. Will you please just tell me?"

Scott stared at him wide-eyed weighing his options yet again.

"I can't, Derek... I would if I could, you know I would, but I just can't."

Derek looked a little heartbroken that his co-alpha would keep something from him like this.

"Ask him," he said suddenly, catching Derek's attention again. "Ask him when he wakes up. Ask him what's under the gauze on his neck and why he put holes in the palms of his hands with his nails, just to calm down. Ask him. Like I said, it's not my secret to tell, it's his."

-

A few agonizing minutes later, Stiles' dad came knocking on the door and joined the apprehensive party.

Then Deaton showed up, and gave him another look over, making sure the fainting spell was indeed supernatural and not medical.

"Okay, I know what's the problem," Deaton said, making all three men stare at him, waiting.

"... And?" the Sheriff asked tentatively.

Deaton's eyes trailed to Derek, silently letting him know he needed to leave, so he did with a sigh and a not-so-casual slam of a door.

"It was a type of over stimulation. It's like his body was overwhelmed with the amount of his mate surrounding him, which caused him pass out. It should wear off, but now that he knows what it feels like having him so close, he'll need him around more than ever," Deaton explained.

"Wait, Derek said they barely touched. How would that be strong enough to make this happen?" Scott asked.

"Sometimes... that's all it takes. Their connection is the strongest I've ever seen before. It's like they're already bonded," Deaton said, resigned, pulling out a needle and giving Stiles a shot of something.

Both men sighed and the Sheriff said, "Great," sarcastically, reminding Scott of Stiles, making him smile gently.

"What are you giving him?" The Sheriff asked, trusting Deaton enough not to stop him.

"It's just a light muscle relaxer. It'll help when he wakes up, so he doesn't go straight into a panic attack. I know he's prone to those."

"What are we gonna tell Derek?" Sheriff asked.

"He needs to know," Scott said while Deaton packed his things.

"Who's gonna do it?"

"It needs to be Stiles."

"Well, he's a little preoccupied right now," the Sheriff said, gesturing towards Stiles' lax body laid out on the couch.

"He _needs_ to know. Especially with the way things have been going," Deaton said.

After a few beats of silence Scott spoke up.

"I'll make sure it happens," Scott said. "Derek told me earlier that he's in love with him... and I believe him. After all... they're mates. They're _‘meant to be’_ and all that."

That made the Sheriff sigh and roll his eyes, but Deaton smiled and shook his head lightly. 

"I'll be on my way then," Deaton said, carrying his things. "Make sure you tell them they need to come visit me sometime soon to talk about the side effects of sealing the bond, which I'm guessing they will want to do." 

"'Sealing the bond'," the Sheriff pondered.

"I'll leave that one for Scott to explain," Deaton said making his exit.

Scott sputtered after him, saying things like "Wait, no, I thought this was your job! Deaton!" 

Almost as soon as the emissary was gone, they heard movement coming from behind them. 

“Get Derek,” Stiles said with pink eyes.


	13. Lost & Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's plenty more to come so don't be disappointed :) In the next chapter, Stiles heads to school and the pack finds out the big news. Sorry this chapter took a few days to post, I've been really busy and it's a rather long one so it took a while to re-edit it :) Thanks so much for reading xo Hannah

Derek slowly opened the door, taking deep breaths, scared out of his mind.

Once it was open he was hit with the most beautiful scent. It smelled of coffee, cinnamon and a little bit of something sweet that was indescribable. 

He didn't notice that he was moving until he was in the living room looking at Stiles, who's eyes were glowing bright pink.

They looked at each other for a moment, until Derek rushed over to him and pulled the younger man into his arms.

"You scared the hell out of me," he mumbled into Stiles' hair, before feeling his entire body tingle like he was hit with a pleasureful lightning bolt. 

Stiles didn't feel it because of the medication but he could tell something was wrong by the way Derek went rigid and stilled in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Stiles slurred out, arms tightly wrapped around Derek's torso and head tucked in the crook of his neck. 

"Uh... Um, I don't know," Derek said letting Stiles go, shaking his head, making the pink color dissipate and his head clear a little. "I think we need to talk."

"What about?" Stiles asked stubbornly. 

"You know what." 

"Where's my dad and Scott?"

"Don't change the subject, and they're out for the night."

Stiles looked a little ashamed at that, not making eye contact with Derek.

Derek ducked his head a little trying to connect eyes with him, but was failing miserably.

"Just be honest with me, Stiles. That's all I'm asking for."

Stiles looked in Derek's mesmerizing eyes, assessing his options momentarily. 

"Before I tell you, I need you to know something."

Derek never broke eye contact as he nodded. 

Stiles looked like he was at a loss for words but in a moment of bravery, he just let it out. 

"I love you."

"What?" Derek asked quietly, eyes softening and eyebrows relaxing from his previous apprehension.

"Yeah," he said nodding. "I love you so much it hurts. Right here," he added putting his palm onto the left side of his chest and rubbing it slightly, removing his eyes from Derek's momentarily.

A few seconds passed that were agonizing on Stiles' mind.

"I know," Derek said. "I feel it, too." He placed his hand on top of Stiles', stopping his movements and making the two feel sparks in through their hands. He pulled Stiles' hand down, lacing their fingers together in the gap between them. He held it tightly, as if Stiles would run away if he got the chance. He started rubbing his thumb over the back of Stiles' hand gently in a loving manner.

"Really?" Stiles asked, looking up and smiling softly.

"Yeah... I love you, too."

Stiles sighed a heavy breath that was mixed with relief, content and all around love. He squeezed Derek's hand as his eyes burned threatening to spill over tears of joy.

Derek reached out his opposite hand as he took a step forward, grabbing Stiles' face in his hand, careful of Stiles' bandage.

Stiles leaned into the touch, brushing Derek's warm, calloused hand over his soft cheek. 

Stiles closed his eyes as he breathed in the beautiful scent of his mate, feeling light-headed and happy. He opened his heavy eyelids and looked up at Derek through his pink glowing eyes. He could tell they were glittered and started to feel embarrassed. 

He tried to pull away, but Derek wasn't having any of that.

He released Stiles' hand and grabbed his face in both of his hands, not letting him get away.

"They're beautiful," Derek whispered.

Stiles looked up at him, wide-eyed and grabbed onto Derek's wrists, conveying how much that meant to him.

Then suddenly Derek's eyes lit magenta as well, bringing a soft smile to Stiles' face. 

"What are you smiling at?" Derek asked quiet and happily.

"You."

Derek returned the small smile and looked like Stiles felt; like things were falling into place. 

Derek was suddenly moving in and slowly closing his eyes. Stiles would give anything to just lean in and _take_ but there was one piece of the puzzle that he had lacked to share with Derek.

Just before their lips touched, Stiles croaked out, "I have to tell you something."

"Right now?" Derek asked, eyes now open but face still centimeters from Stiles', blowing puffs of breath onto his skin. 

"Yes. It's really important."

"Are you suuuuuure?" Derek teased, trying to get Stiles to give in.

Stiles got distracted for a moment in Derek's soft lips so close to his own... but he had to be strong.

Stiles simply nodded his head and looked back up to Derek's hazel eyes.

Derek leaned back a little from his close stance. "Is everything okay?"

Stiles thought for a moment... 

_Is everything okay? What if Derek doesn't want this? He didn't sign up for this. What if he doesn't want me anymore once he finds out we're... mates._

Stiles pushed through.

"Can you come with me?" he asked.

Derek looked a little confused but nodded hesitantly. 

Stiles grabbed his hand and pulled him along to the bathroom, chewing the nails off of his other hand.

"Are you okay? You're kind of freaking me out." 

Stiles' heart was pounding. 

"Look," he commanded pointing to the mirror. His eyes still pink and never faltering, but Derek's had long faded.

Derek turned to look at himself. "I don't see anything." 

"Here. This might help," Stiles continued. He reached out a trembling hand and touched Derek's neck and trailed it up to cup his stubbled cheek gently, with the softest of a touch. He watched as Derek’s breathing hitched. They both felt another shock, Derek feeling an electric tingle run down his spine.

Stiles met his pink eyes with Derek's for a few seconds before murmuring out, "Look in the mirror."

Derek looked slightly confused as he turned to his body away from Stiles. The moment he saw himself in the mirror, his magenta eyes went wide as he stepped closer.

"It's happening to you, too... I know you've felt it... the jolt when you touch me, the way, I'm guessing, you freaked out when I was hurt..." Stiles said quietly, trailing off at the end. "It's not just me."

"What do you mean?" Derek asked full voiced.

Stiles looked at him rather scared and took his tone of voice negatively. 

"I'm sorry, I'll go," Stiles said making a rush towards the exit.

"Stiles," Derek said in his demanding alpha voice.

Stiles automatically stopped in his tracks as if he was one of Derek's wolves.

Derek looked intrigued as he walked over to Stiles. "That usually doesn't work on you..." he pondered. 

He stepped in front of Stiles who's eyes were still shimmering. He reached out a hand and touched his neck for a moment, making Stiles whimper, as if he was submitting.

"You usually don't do that either."

Derek was suddenly greatly interested in what was under the bandage on Stiles' neck.

As if he could sense his thoughts, Stiles said, "You don't wanna do that."

But Derek's never been one to take orders from others. So, he began pealing it off, aware of Stiles wincing from the pull of the tape on his delicate skin. 

Once it was off he threw it across the room and walked around Stiles slowly, as if he was his prey.

Suddenly, Derek's shoes stopped hitting the wood floors and Stiles closed his eyes preparing for the worst.

What came next shocked Stiles literally and figuratively.

First he heard a low growl, then he was spun around forcefully and pulled close to Derek. Before he could even open his eyes, Derek was kissing the _hell_ out of him. 

Stiles' shoulder's relaxed and be fisted his hands into Derek's shirt and began kissing him back with just as much passion and heat.

Derek reached down cupping Stiles' ass, signaling for him to jump up and wrap his legs around his hips. And he did, mentally giving himself a high five for making that dream come true.

Next thing he knew, he was slammed up against a wall, for a reason that was anything other than anger. He hit the wall so hard that the bookcase next to them sent a few stray movies and books toppling onto the floor, but they didn't care whatsoever. 

"Smell all wrong," Derek mumbled into Stiles' neck. 

"Then make me smell like you," Stiles said into Derek's ear.

Derek ran his hands up Stiles' thighs, sending a quick shiver down Stiles’ spine. 

Stiles was now holding Derek's hot face in his hands and was kissing him like they were going to die tomorrow. Hell, maybe they would.

Derek started walking towards the bed and Stiles was extremely happy with where things were going. To Stiles' pleasure, the kisses seemed to grow dirtier and dirtier the closer they got to the destination.

Stiles was hard in his jeans and would do anything to get to the bed faster. 

He didn't know if it was the mate bond or the fact that he'd been waiting for this moment for years, but he felt like he would die if he didn't get his hands on more of Derek's skin.

As soon as they made it to Derek's bed, after many trips and stumbles, Derek dumped Stiles on the bed, falling softly into his sheets, separating their swollen lips. 

He looked down at the young boy in front of him and swore he looked more beautiful than he'd ever seen him before. His lips were red and parted and his cheeks were blushed pink with darkened eyes. Once he met those eyes, he blinked and in an instant his own were pink and lighting up the room again. 

Stiles looked up at him and his own followed suit, making the room glow even brighter. 

Stiles, thinking that was probably the hottest look he'd ever seen on Derek (and it was caused by him) he huffed out, "Shit." 

"What?" Derek asked.

"Your eyes... you have no idea what they do to me," he answered biting his lower lip. 

Becoming annoyed with the distance between him and his mate, Stiles pulled at the bottom of Derek's shirt until he got the message and started kissing him again. This time the gentle touches of Derek's lips traveled down his cheek, to his jawline, onto his neck and up to the shell of his ear. Then he whispered in Stiles' ear, "Do you have any idea how much I want you?"

"No," Stiles answered truthfully, strung out with his eyes fluttering shut.

"By tomorrow, there won't be a doubt in your mind."

At that, Derek sucked Stiles' earlobe into his mouth, biting it slightly making Stiles moan as a wave of pleasure was sent straight to his dick, that was growing impossibly harder.

"Derek," Stiles whimpered, pulling on his shirt again. He could feel Derek smiling into his neck as he tried to pull him even closer.

Derek looked down at him as he hovered above him and innocently asked, "What?" scrunching his eyebrows together in the middle cluelessly.

"Don't 'what?' me, you know what," Stiles panted.

"No..." Derek started. "I wanna hear you say it," he said, voice suddenly deep and hoarse, eyes narrowing on Stiles.

Stiles felt hot under his stare but it made his heart flutter in his chest. Derek could hear the blip and a smug smile formed across his lips.

Stiles retaliated by pulling Derek down slightly by his grey top and whispering in his ear. "I wanna feel you inside me," he breathed out. "I want you to mark me, so everyone knows who I belong to. I want everyone to know that you're my _mate._ " 

"Shit, Stiles," he moaned out as Stiles began stroking his member through his dark jeans. "I want that so much."

"Then fucking do it," Stiles said before grabbing Derek by the face and kissing him once again. 

Derek made a surprised noise but was all too happy to let Stiles take the lead.

All the sudden Derek stopped moving so much and Stiles broke their kiss to look up at him, worrisome that he had said something wrong.

Derek just looked at him, like he was the world for a moment, until he rubbed a hand over his chest and told him, "I love you so much."

Stiles smiled warmly, a high blush forming on his cheeks, decorating his mole-dotted skin. "Who knew Derek Hale was such a sap?" he asked sweetly.

Derek rolled his eyes but involuntarily blushed, matching Stiles' expression.

Stiles just laughed and said, "I love you, too."

Suddenly Derek was on him again, kissing him slowly and passionately, holding him close.

Soon Stiles had had it with the pain in his pants and resorted to canting his hips up to meet Derek's. 

Derek groaned and met the movement.

They continued moving their bodies together as one, as Derek started kissing Stiles' neck and sucking bruises here and there, following Stiles' request.

With every pull of the skin on his neck Stiles felt himself getting closer and closer to the edge. He stopped to pull Derek's shirt over his head and then ran his hands up his toned chest. 

After about two more grinds of their hips, Stiles came with a low moan and Derek watched him closely, noticing how his eyes glowed pink when he came.

Derek started rubbing his hands up and down Stiles' slender arms and whispering sweet things in his ear like, "You're so perfect... You look beautiful when you come.... I want to make you look like this forever... I love you."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until suddenly Stiles flipped them over so he was straddling Derek's hips. He pulled off his shirt with Derek's help, guiding him, so he wouldn't get tangled in it like Derek assumed he would.

Stiles leaned his body back down to connect their lips as a silent thank you. Derek slowly trailed his hands up Stiles' thighs to his crotch unbuttoning his jeans gently, not to scare Stiles by going too fast.

Stiles broke the kiss, breathing heavily and said quietly, as if hoping Derek wouldn't hear, "I'm a virgin." 

Derek just nodded and said, "I know. Do you want to wait a little longer?"

"No. I trust you." 

Stiles kissed him again as Derek reached his hand into Stiles' jeans over his black boxer briefs, rubbing the slightly wet fabric slowly.

Stiles breathed in sharply, resting his head on Derek's shoulder and bit his bottom lip at the sensation, tightening his legs on Derek's hips, teenage hormones and quick recovery time kicking in.

"I want you so bad," Stiles said into Derek's ear again.

That, and the idea of where things were heading, sent a tingle through Derek's body and caused his eyes to flutter shut. 

Stiles moved his mouth to his other ear and continued, "I need you."

Back to the other ear, "I want you to pin me to the bed and fuck me into the mattress," he started, taking a tip from Derek and biting his earlobe, tugging it slightly. Then he added the one thing that let Derek's inner beast out; "Please, Der. I wanna be yours."

Derek growled lowly, eyes gleaming red as he flipped Stiles over and connected their mouths again lustfully.

Stiles just moaned and tried to buck up his hips, wanting Derek's warm hand back on him. 

He reached up and unbuttoned Derek's pants quickly, all while trying to kick off his own jeans under Derek.

Derek started sucking on a sensitive spot behind Stiles' ear (since when was _that_ there?) and smiled at Stiles' eagerness.

"C'mon, Derek," Stiles whined impatiently.

Derek trailed kisses back to his mouth, not giving in to Stiles' request. He was going to do this right or not at all.

He reached blindly to the bedside table and rummaged around until he found a bottle of lube. 

Stiles always thought he would be nervous in this moment. That losing his virginity would be something that would make or break his entire life, but right now, with Derek, he'd never felt so calm… It felt right.

Derek got all the fabric between them off, finally getting to see his mate gorgeously naked. He gently spread the other's legs and started pressing gentle kisses up his torso. 

Stiles looked utterly blissed out, eyes closed, lips parted, breathing softly as he struggled to not touch himself.

Derek used Stiles' briefs to clean up the mess of come that covered Stiles' dick, making Stiles keen in pleasure.

Derek made his way back to Stiles' flushed face, and just looked at him for a moment . He then noticed he wasn't opening his eyes.

"Open your eyes, baby."

Once he opened them, he saw the intricate detailing of Stiles' glowing eyes up close. They were amazing. _He_ was amazing.

"You're so beautiful." 

Stiles smiled gently and kissed Derek as soft as can be.

Derek ran his hand from Stiles' neck, his chest, to his stomach and wrapped his hand around his cock making Stiles grip his hands into Derek's shoulders.

"Relax," he whispered into Stiles' ear, coaxing the tension out of him.

Stiles took a deep exhale and let himself be pleasured by his mate. And _God,_ Derek knew how to touch him and kiss him in a way he could never make himself feel.

He bit his lip as Derek continued stroking him slowly, using the last of the evidence of Stiles' last orgasm as lube. Eventually, Derek started moving his hand lower until he make contact with Stiles' hole, making him moan long and low. 

"Have you ever done this before?" Derek asked, quiet and lovingly, trying to comfort him through what was to come.

Stiles nodded with his eyes closed.

"What did you think about when you did it?" he asked huskily, adding lube to his finger.

"You," he moaned out.

"Tell me more," Derek said, sounding like the mere thought of Stiles thinking of him when he touched himself had him leaking.

"Everything you did- do makes me want you. I could think about you reading and I'd get hard. I use to picture you above me, fucking into me, telling me how much you love me... It'd make me a little sad after because I didn't think it'd ever happen. Didn't think I'd ever have this."

"I do love you," he said softly looking into Stiles' glowing eyes, making his glow, too. They're eyes both stayed that way, never losing that feeling. 

Derek slowly slid in a well-lubed finger into Stiles, making him knit his brows together in pleasure.

" _Derek,_ ” Stiles breathed out.

His eyes rolled back a little and the scent of arousal in the air spiked, pleasing Derek immensely. 

"More," he commanded breathily as he panted.

He whimpered when Derek added a second finger.

"God Stiles, you have no idea how perfect you look like this," Derek said, watching Stiles squirm and moan beneath him.

"Oh god, Derek, more." 

Once Derek's ring finger was added, he hit something in Stiles that sent his eyes glowing even brighter and him moaning out loudly for something more.

"Please, Derek," Stiles whimpered.

Derek kept watching him fall apart beneath him through half-hooded eyes.

"More," Stiles begged.

"You want me to knot you now or do want to wait a couple days?" Derek asked hoping that was the “more” he was asking for. 

Stiles whined and bit his lip, nodding. " _Now._ I want it _now._ "

Derek smirked a little, happy to know Stiles had already made up his mind. 

He took out his fingers, earning a disapproving whimper from Stiles and he lined up his well-lubricated dick to Stiles' entrance and slowly pushed in. 

Even with all the prep, Stiles' face contorted in pain from the intrusion. Derek peppered kisses over his face, as he pushed a hand behind Stiles to his lower back and took some of his pain, calming Stiles.

Once he was all the way in, they stayed that way for a few moments, Derek holding Stiles and whispering how good he was doing into his ear. 

"Move," Stiles whispered.

So Derek did as slow as he could, afraid of hurting him.

He looked down into Stiles' eyes and intertwined both of their hands, holding them next to Stiles' head.

It was slow and loving and, for some reason, it was what both of them wanted. No fight, no anger, no speed, just slow, passionate love. 

Derek kissed Stiles as he pushed into him, which had Stiles making small noises of pleasure.

Stiles' eyes and mouth pleaded for more, so he gave it, finding that spot again that sent a shot of pleasure through him. 

Stiles was moaning and holding Derek close as they sealed their bond together slowly. 

Stiles felt a pool of heated pleasure fill his stomach while Derek hit his prostate repeatedly.

"Oh god, I'm gonna come," Stiles warned.

Derek nodded and said, "Me too."

"Knot me. I want to feel it. Please, Derek." 

Just those words alone, sent Derek's dick swelling inside of Stiles and had him groaning into his ear. He kept moving his hips in small movements listening to his mate moan out for even more.

" _Derek,_ " Stiles called out as he came between them, eyes shining brighter than they ever have, utterly turned on by the feeling of him swelling and hitting him in all the right places.

Once things calmed down, Derek gently found his underwear and wiped Stiles' chest clean. He laid half on top of him but Stiles didn't seem bothered by having his mate so close. 

Stiles found Derek's hand again and laced their fingers together, feeling the bond form. They just looked into each other's eyes, knowing they would both remember this moment for the rest of their lives. Stiles leaned over and gently kissed him, Derek meeting him halfway.

"I love you," Stiles said, seriously.

"I love you, too," Derek responded, chest feeling heavy.

"How long does it take to go down?" he asked sensitively. 

"I think like an hour. I don't know, I've never really done this before," he answered.

"Well, duh," Stiles responded, smiling and pulling Derek even closer, careful not to move around too much.

They stayed holding hands and looking at each other for a few minutes until Stiles started getting uncomfortable and started wiggling.

"Let me guess: Stiles can't stay still?" Derek wondered.

"No, I can't, thank you very much."

"Just wait a few more minutes, I can feel it going away."

Stiles nodded and bit his bottom lip, that was red and puffy from kissing and biting it so much.

Stiles started running his fingers through Derek's hair and watched as Derek's eyes fluttered shut and him lean into the embrace. 

"I didn't know werewolves purred," Stiles said, when he heard a small rumble emit from Derek's throat.

"We _don't,_ " he said like a stubborn five year old. 

"Mmhm."

After a little longer, he finally could pull out and watch as all his seed spilled out of Stiles.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he saw a weird look on Stiles face.

"Hurts a little."

Derek placed a hand on his stomach and took some of his pain again making Stiles feel a bit drowsy. His eyes started closing as Derek pulled Stiles onto his side and into his chest, wrapping his arms around him. Stiles held his hand and pulled it close to his chest, reminding Derek that he was safe.

Derek laid there for a while, listening to his mate's breathing become slower as he fell asleep and thought about how much had just happened. 

The last thing he did before falling asleep was notice the soul mark on Stiles' neck. He smiled at the sight. He kissed it softly, to not wake Stiles and held him tighter, dosing off.

-

Stiles woke up wrapped in Derek's warm comforter, replaying earlier. His eyes fluttered shut to the smell of his mate concentrated into the sheets. _That was new._ He rolled over to lay on his stomach, sticking his head into the pillows, revealing his pale back to the ceiling. 

Next, he felt a warm hand trail up his back and he turned his head to see a shirtless Derek next to him smiling gently.

"Hi," Stiles said quietly.

"Hi," Derek said back, voice hoarse.

"What time is it?"

"Like nine," he said looking at the digital alarm clock, gleaming blue next to him. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." 

Just when Derek was about to get up, Stiles reached out and grabbed his hand pulling him back into the bed. 

He laced their fingers together feeling more at peace than he ever has. 

The corners of Derek's mouth twitched up as he got more comfortable under the blankets, lying close to Stiles.

They sat there in silence for a while, until Derek's phone buzzed. He continued holding Stiles close and playing with his fingers, ignoring the interruption. 

"Are you gonna get that?" Stiles whispered.

"No."

That made Stiles smile a little, but inside he was beaming greatly. He looked up at Derek and saw that his eyes were glowing. "Stop it," he commanded even though his was smiling like an idiot.

"What?" Derek asked, smiling back.

"Your eyes."

"I can't really control it."

"Mhm, sure," Stiles responded sarcastically, pulling Derek's face close into his in a soft and gentle kiss.

"I should probably get home; my dad'll worry," Stiles said sadly.

"Stay," Derek whispered, lips hovering over Stiles', tempting him. Stiles' lips parted and eyes glazed over at the movement, eyelashes fluttering.

"You can't do that." 

"Do what?"

"Be all cute like that."

Derek smiled and leaned down, capturing Stiles' lips in his, in a bit of a filthier of a kiss.

Stiles sighed into it and thought to himself:

_I'd be fine dying right now._

_I could kiss him forever._

_I want to spend everyday doing this with him._

_I've never been this happy._

-

Stiles ended up spending the night with the approval of his father, who had been keyed into what exactly "sealing the bond" meant (which grossed Stiles out more than anything; knowing his father knew what he had done earlier that night).

After they ordered a pizza, they finished the movie together on the couch, sitting much closer than before. A dressed Derek sat against the armrest and Stiles, now wearing a pair of Derek's sweatpants and a white tee shirt, fit like a glove between his legs. Stiles could feel Derek's body heat radiating against his back, comforting him, grounding him. Derek spent the duration of the movie touching Stiles; rubbing a hand over his, ghosting feather-like touches up his arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake or simply holding his hand. 

Towards the end of the movie Stiles had found his way between Derek's neck and shoulder, resting his head there.

Derek smiled at the movement, loving the feeling of his mate so close, breathing, alive. 

"I love it when you do that," Stiles whispered into Derek's ear.

"Do what?"

"Smile... You don't do it enough."

Derek tried to contain his smirk but failed to hide it, blushing anyway.

"See," Stiles said grabbing his chin to turn his head towards Stiles, to look into his eyes. "You're beautiful."

Derek just looked at him, eyes blown wide with love and leaned in, kissing him speechless. Stiles turned his body, putting everything he had into the kiss.

They both opened their mouths simultaneously and their tongues tied together in a knot of lust. Stiles started trailing closed mouthed kisses over his cheek and down his neck and started sucking a hickey into his collarbone, that would heal only moments later. 

Derek's eyes closed at the sensation and smiled again.

"See," Stiles started, moving to look Derek in the eye, "Beautiful," he repeated.

"I love you."

Stiles smiled. "I love you, too."

"Let's go to bed."

Stiles nodded.

-

They fell asleep, Stiles tucked under Derek's arm, head resting on his warm chest, listening to it slowly beat.

The wolf inside Derek felt better than it ever had. He had finally found his mate... and he'd been there all along and now he's here, protected and safe. The thought brought a warm sensation to his chest. 

He placed a single kiss into Stiles' hair, causing him to stir in his sleep and wrap his arm around Derek tighter, eyes closed. He was quick back to sleep, puffing is warm breaths onto Derek.

Derek smiled and went to sleep, content in where he was.


	14. Gone On Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay, new chapter! Thanks so much for reading and commenting. Your guys' comments get me through the day and never cease to make me smile. This is my favorite chapter I've ever written, so I hope you guys enjoy :) xo Hannah
> 
> (Also, there will only be one more chapter of this story, BUT I'm going to pick this story up onto a collection and will still be posting almost everyday, so make sure you keep reading. The next installment of this story will be based around Stiles and Derek still, and the two will go through something major together. They will work together to get through the aftermath and become a stronger couple in the end. Plus, they will find out much more about the side effects of the bond and how to use it to their advantage. Pleeeeeease read it when the time comes. It would really mean a lot to me. Thank you guys so much.)

Derek woke up to a buzzing sound and groaning coming from Stiles.

"'Was wrong?" Derek slurred out. He looked over to see Stiles shoving his head under Derek's pillow.

"Scott texted. Forgot I had school," he muffled out through the pillow.

Derek rolled over to rub his hand up Stiles' back and say, "I can drive you."

Stiles perked up a bit and smiled at him dopily, nodding.

-

After a few more lazy kisses, Stiles and Derek pulled themselves away from the comfortable bed and got ready. Stiles took a hot shower, careful when cleaning anywhere overused yesterday, and casually inspected Derek's bathroom supplies as he used them. 

Without a word, Stiles took the still-warm shirt Derek had worn yesterday and put it on, making Derek smile. Then he put on a clean pair of boxers and his own jeans.

He winced slightly as he got dressed, worrying Derek and sending him straight to Stiles checking his body over for injuries. 

"I'm fine," Stiles insisted.

"No, you're not. What's wrong?"

"I just hurt a little from last night is all," he answered biting his lip and looking away.

Derek pulled him into a close embrace, and before Stiles knew it, he started to feel a little better as Derek took some of his pain away.

Stiles kissed him softly on the cheek in return.

-

They left Derek's loft, Stiles with a piece of buttered toast stuffed between his teeth and his backpack hanging low off his shoulders.

They sat through the car ride in comfortable silence as they drove to the high school. They both knew Stiles was late but neither of them seemed bothered by it. Better late than never, right?

Stiles started fidgeting his hands in his lap, worrying about what his friends would think of him now that he's... the alpha's mate. Derek slowly reached his larger hand over and put it on top of Stiles' stopping his movements. It calmed his nerves, thinking about how worth it all of this was. Stiles sighed and opened up his hand weaving their fingers together and squeezed his hand lovingly. 

They stayed quiet the whole ride there, until Derek pulled up to the front of the school.

Derek pulled up Stiles' hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles chastely.

Stiles watched the movement in awe. "I'll miss you, today... I already do."

Derek just stretched across the middle of the car and kissed him full-heartedly. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes; Derek caressing Stiles' skin, anywhere he could reach as they kissed softly.

Eventually Derek slowly pulled himself away, only to have Stiles say pleadingly, "No, I don't want to go. I want to stay with you."

"I know." 

Derek started running his fingers into Stiles' soft brown hair, Stiles humming at the feeling.

"But you still have to go to school... and you're already late, so you better get going."

Stiles whimpered and scrunched his eyebrows together, sounding wolf-like, making Derek's eyes gleam red. 

"You can't do that,” Derek tried.

"Do what?" Stiles said innocently.

"Whine like that. It drives me crazy."

Stiles tried his best to look innocent, but Derek wasn't buying it.

"You're right, I should get going," he said giving up.

Derek just nodded, a little sadly. "Want me to pick you up?"

"Yeah, my car's still at your place."

"Okay."

Stiles just looked at him, unmoving.

"What?"

"I just love you is all."

Derek blushed. "I love you, too."

Stiles flushed back. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Derek nodded gently, before Stiles grabbed his chin and kissed him on the lips one last time.

-

Leaving Derek was like hell. He really didn't want to separate himself from him, but Derek was right; he needed to go to school.

As he walked down the empty hall he still felt some aches in his body, making him blush a little as he remembered what happened yesterday. He could already feel himself missing his mate, so he pulled the collar of Derek's shirt to his nose and let the scent fill his lungs. 

He figured the fact that he could almost smell Derek a mile away was part of the bond, but he wasn't complaining. He smelled divine and even if they weren't mated, he'd still think so.

He could tell his eyes were glowing so he shook his head quickly, making the color disappear before he stepped into Harris' room.

"Well, it's nice of you to join us, Mr. Stilinski. Sleep in?" Harris laid into him.

The rest of the class all looked at him like he'd grown a second head, probably because he had failed to cover any marks Derek had left behind.

Stiles just nodded and frowned slightly before making his way to his lab bench, next to Scott, who was sniffing the air like he could scent out drugs or something.

"Really, Stiles?" he whisper/yelled.

"What?" he responded, turning to look at Scott who was gesturing at Derek's shirt and his messy "sex hair," that laid flopping over his forehead unstyled. He also pointed at the hickeys decorating his neck and collarbone, poking one, sending Stiles retaliating by slapping him in the arm.

"Boys," Harris said, catching their attention. "Cut it out."

They both nodded and faced the front, not wanting to face the wrath of their teacher. 

"Sorry," they both said simultaneously.

Harris went back to teaching but that didn't stop Danny from leaning up from his spot behind him and ask, "When'd you get that tattoo?"

Stiles, remembering his uncovered soul mark, reached up instinctively covering it with his palm and answered, "Friday."

"Oh... Cool." 

"Thanks."

"Also, nice hickeys and boyfriend's tee- keeping it casual as always, Stilinski." 

That left Stiles' jaw open, as if he was about to lie, but before anything came out Harris warned him again. "One more time, Stilinski and you're staying after school for detention."

That really shut Stiles up and left him mimicking zipping his lips. The last thing he wanted was to be away from Derek for even longer today. 

Stiles could hear clicking of keys, so he looked to his left to see Scott no-so-casually texting someone under the table. 

Harris sighed and stopped again, only to walk over and take Scott's phone from his tight grip.

He brought it up to his point of view and decided reading the unsent text to the class was a good enough punishment. 

"'Stiles came in late wearing Derek's shirt, covered in hickeys. I guess we know who got laid last night,'" he read emotionless. He flicked his eyes up to the two boys to see Scott looking ashamed and Stiles looking like everyone had just seen him naked. 

Everyone was listening.

Stiles covered his face with his hands, praying the earth would open up a sinkhole under him. 

Harris stepped forward and leaned down, as if that would keep things more private. "I'll be seeing both of you after school, then?" 

They both nodded.

Harris got back to teaching but Stiles couldn't help but notice a few students staring at him during class, half intrigued and half shocked Stiles was getting any action at all.

-

Once class ended, Stiles pulled out his phone to shoot Derek a text as he walked to his next class.

Stiles: Hey, baby. I got detention, can you pick me up at four instead?

Mate: Sure. Everything okay?

Stiles smiled down at his phone. Man, he was gone on this guy.

Stiles: Courtesy of Scott.

Mate: Need me to beat him up?

Stiles chuckled.

Stiles: Nah, I think I can handle it.

Mate: I'll see you later?

Stiles: Of course. I love you.

Mate: I love you, too.

Stiles smiled and blushed before he arrived at Ms. Bennett's room. He stepped in just before he heard a long whistle from behind him. 

He turned to see Lydia, in all her glory and heals, eyebrows high.

"What?" Stiles asked, crossing his arms.

"What were you up to last night?"

"Um..." Stiles started, itching the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact. "You know how you guys left for that movie?"

Lydia nodded.

"Well, I didn't leave.... Derek and I talked and then watched a movie at his place."

Lydia nodded slowly this time, smirk growing like she was catching onto where this was going.

"And uhhhh." 

"Spit it out, Stilinski. I wanna hear you say it."

"And things may have escalated to the sexy direction." 

Lydia shook her head, "Nope, c'mon, say it."

"Fine..." Stiles began, sighing. "We had sex and it was great," he said in one quick breath.

Lydia smiled greatly. "Really?" she asked, like this was the best moment of her life.

"Yeah," he said, blushing.

She kept smiling as she leaned in and surprised him with a hug. "I'm really happy for you," she said softly into his ear.

"Thanks, Lyds." 

When they broke apart, she moved to sit down at her desk, trying to keep her reputation unsoft.

"I knew something was up once I saw the henley and marks you're doing a terrible job of hiding."

Stiles just blushed and smirked looking at his shoes.

"... You like them don't you?" she caught on.

"A little bit... So does Derek."

"It's a possessive wolf thing. It's like he's marking his territory."

"I think it's cute that he feels like he even needs to try to keep me from anyone else who's interested," he said honestly.

"You told him about the whole 'soulmate' thing I'm guessing," she added, motioning at his uncovered neck.

"Yeah."

"How'd he take it?" she asked scrunching her nose.

"That's kind of how things got started."

Lydia fixed her skirt, casually, not looking at Stiles and quickly said, "Tell me everything."

"Well, I fainted again... Yes, I know, don't look at me like that. I'm fine. And when I woke up he was super worried about me and was saying all these sweet things like 'don't ever do that again' and 'I was so worried about you' and before I knew it, I was telling him I loved him. Then he told me that he loved me, too. 

"But, I started to feel guilty because he didn't know the truth... So, I showed him his eyes," he said, sounding like it was hard for him. "He was upset. Obviously. So I was about to leave, because I felt... awful. But then he went all alpha on me and wouldn't let me leave until he saw what was on my neck... He looked and he just- kind of- uh- attacked... and some activities occurred, that I won't go into detail about and... now we're together. Ta-da.

"Also, we forgot about school, so I was late and didn't have time to stop by my house to get clean clothes or a new bandage for today, so that explains Derek's shirt and the neck."

Lydia looked like she was watching a rom-com unravel right before her very eyes... Well, you must admit, it's a much gayer and stupider movie but man, is she enjoying the show.

"That's really sweet," she admitted, eyes softening.

"Why, Lydia Martin, who knew you were such a big softy?" he joked.

"Well, Jackson's not giving me any Notebook moments, so I gotta get 'em where I can."

Stiles just smiled contently, looking at his hands and listened to the bell right, signaling the start of English. 

-

When it was time for lunch, Stiles simply got his lunch with Lydia and walked to their table normally.

As soon as his tray hit the table, the pack went silent and wide eyed, as if they just had an sniffing-epiphany.

Stiles looked a little awkward and nervous as he sat down, internally wincing slightly at the pain, but leave it to Lydia to break the ice.

"C'mon guys, don't be like that," she said annoyed. 

They were quiet.

"So... What's new?" Scott asked, trying his hardest to change the topic.

"Derek fucked Stiles," Lydia said picking through her salad.

Everyone's jaws dropped as Stiles hissed out "Lydia!" 

"What?" she asked. "It's not like they're not gonna find out."

"For real?" Isaac asked, looking at Stiles in hope.

Stiles just sighed and sagged back in his chair. "There have been some new developments," he said, talking with his hands.

"Like what? The hickeys on your neck?" Erica asked, poking fun.

The pack all snorted and laughed discreetly.

"No..." he said rolling his eyes. "We're sort of together now," he added avoiding eye contact.

"Really?!" Erica asked excitedly.

"Yes, really. What did you think, it was a one night stand? We're mates."

"You sealed the bond?" Kira asked.

“You know that you two are the only other two that can, right?” Scott piped in, wrapping his arm around Kira.

"I'm really weirded out that we’re talking about this, but yes. We did."

Erica started slow clapping and eventually Isaac joined in, Lydia next and before he knew it, all his friends were applauding him loudly and Liam was shouting out, "Get some, Stilinski!" followed by Kira singing, "Stiles has a boyfriend!" a few times, humiliating him more.

The students in the cafeteria looked a little confused and others shocked that Stiles was:

a) gay  
b) was "getting some" and  
c) had a boyfriend. 

But, nonetheless he had the attention of them all.

He decided sinking down as far as he could in his chair was an appropriate reaction. 

\- 

He also got a text from his dad at lunch.

Dad: Hey, kid. How ya feeling?

Stiles: Good. Things with Derek are going really well.

Dad: TMI.

Stiles rolled his eyes.

Stiles: I didn't mean it like that! I meant I'm feeling really happy.

Dad: I'm really glad. That's all I wanna hear.

Stiles smirked and thought of how lucky he is.

Stiles: Is it okay if I spend the night there again? I just really want to be with him right now. Mate thing.

Dad: I guess so. Just promise you'll come back to your old man. I miss you.

Stiles' smirked turned into a full on beaming smile.

Stiles: I promise. I miss you, too. Thanks, dad.

Dad: No problem. Get back to class. I love you.

Stiles: I love you, too. 

He pocketed his phone and went to calculus, feeling great knowing he got to stay with Derek tonight.

-

The rest of the day went by fine, although he did get some weird looks from his teachers, followed by his friends giving him a thumbs up whenever they passed him in the hall.

He also felt weirdly dizzy or hazy at times, but every time it happened he smelt the collar or sleeve of Derek's grey shirt and the feeling went away. It was almost anchoring him and he wondered if it's always going to be this hard being away from him.

-

Once he got to Harris' room for his not-so-unfamiliar time in detention, he saw Scott sitting in a desk near the center of the room. 

Students were scattered around the room, facing their "time in the slammer," too.

Stiles sighed and sat down.

"Hey-"

"No," Harris cut in.

"Oh-kay." 

He reached in his bag and pulled out a slip of paper instead.

Stiles: Hey.

Scott: Hi.

Stiles: Are you mad about the whole Derek thing?

Scott: You mean am I mad that you guys are together?

Stiles: Kind of.

Scott: Nah. It's gonna be weird, but I'll get over it. I talked to him yesterday while you were out and he told me that he was in love with you and all that mushy crap, so I know he's legit.

Stiles smiled.

Stiles: Really?

Scott: Yes, it was pitiful.

Stiles: He's cute.

Scott made a gagging sound.

Scott: You are so biased. 

Stiles: Why? I'm allowed to think he's adorable.

Scott looked grossed out again.

Scott: You're just saying that because you had sex with him last night.

Stiles whisper/yelled, "Scott!"

Scott grinned at Stiles before noticing Harris getting up and snatching the letter from Stiles' grip.

After some tug of war, Harris got the letter from him and decided to repeat his punishment from earlier, since it mortified them both so well.

"'Hey. Hi. Are you mad about the whole Derek thing? You mean am I mad that you guys are together? Kind of. Nah. It's gonna be weird, but I'll get over it. I talked to him yesterday while you were out and he told me that he was in love with you and all that mushy crap, so I know he's legit. Really? Yes, it was pitiful. He's cute. You are so biased. Why? I'm allowed to think he's adorable. You're just saying that because you had sex with him last night,'" Harris read aloud.

About halfway through Stiles began slamming his head against the edge of the table repeatedly, while Scott just looked entertained by it all.

Kids around the room's jaws dropped at the last statement, after they all looked sweetened by Stiles calling Derek "cute" and "adorable."

Harris leaned down for another "private" talk. 

"If I have to read another agonizing note from the two of you, I'll have to call your parents. So, if I were you, I'd keep the conversations on Stiles' sex life-"

Stiles covered his face in his hands.

" _-outside of school._ "

"Yes, sir," Scott agreed.

Stiles just nodded from behind his hands.

The class murmured comments and laughs.

Stiles was mortified.

-

"Ah, Derek. I've been wondering when you were stopping by," Deaton called from the doorway of his back room when Derek got up enough nerve to step inside the veterinary clinic. 

"Yeah, I figured it was about time," Derek said, sighing and stuffing his fists into his jean pockets.

"How have things been going so far?" the vet asked motioning for Derek to follow him into the back.

"Pretty good so far. Um, we 'sealed the bond,'" Derek said making air quotes with his fingers. 

Deaton seemed not surprised, humming and continued on with the meeting. 

"Anything out of the ordinary going on?" 

"Stiles’ been kind of... needy? He really didn't want to leave me to go to school this morning and when I told him he had to, he made this whining sound. He's been making that sound a lot lately. It makes my eyes turn red instead of pink."

"It's definitely part of the bond. He's mated to a wolf, so the whining is just a sign of him submitting, but I'm sure he'll find his place eventually as the alpha's mate and take charge, but for now he wants to be near you. Close to you. Especially if you're apart for a while, because, well to put it simply, you're mates."

Derek nodded, taking it in. "Why isn't any of this happening to me?" he asked.

"You've spent most of your life learning control."

"Is there anything I can do to help him?"

Deaton thought for a moment, putting his pointer finger against his chin and tapping it slightly.

"Try giving him something of yours to scent daily. It'll help make sure he stays grounded when he's not with you. Also, every night you should try to sleep together because sleeping will help you share scents and I'm sure Stiles won't object to that."

Derek smirked and nodded, looking at his shoes.

"If you're apart for too long and can't smell or be near the other, Stiles will get really tired and a bit drowsy. Just try to be there for him as much as possible. He needs you now more than ever," Deaton added.

"Will anything happen to me?"

"Well, the usual overprotective, possessive actions of a wolf won't falter. If anything they'll increase, but I know you'll keep it down as best you can."

"Yeah, I'll try," Derek said, smiling again.

"I can already tell you're happier," Deaton said fondly.

"Yeah... I am."


	15. Mooning Over You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! It's complete! Thank you all so much for reading this story! I hope you guys liked it and will read the next part of this series. It's honestly super sweet with a lot of domesticity like double dates, cuddling and Derek taking care of Stiles when he's hurt. It's kind of adorable. I'm like three chapters in so far and I'm really in love with it. Thank you guys so much- especially to you all who have been reading it religiously. It means so much that people actually care about my writing that much :) You guys are the greatest xo Hannah

Once their time was up, Scott and Stiles left hell (also known as Harris' classroom) and headed to heaven (also known as the school's exit). As soon as they opened the door, they found Erica, Lydia, Allison, Kira and Isaac also known as "the Ladies," sitting on the benches outside. They all scrambled to look casual when they noticed the two boys. A few tried looking off into the distance "deep in thought," while the others pretended to "study," flipping through random pages of textbooks.

"What are you guys still doing here?" Stiles asked, standing in front of the group.

"We're studying… obviously," Allison offered.

"Mhm..." He narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly he noticed Scott looking extremely guilty next to him.

"What?" Scott asked defensively.

"What did you do?"

"Okay, I may have mentioned Derek was picking you up..." 

"Okay... What's the big deal?" he asked, confused. "Why do you all care?"

"No clue."

"We want to see you be cute," Lydia said as if it was obvious.

Stiles glared slightly. "Why?" 

"Because your love life is much more interesting than ours, apparently," Erica said.

"So you stayed after school for an hour... to see Derek and I kiss?"

"Yes," Isaac interjected.

"Isaac, why are you here?" 

"I want to see the cuteness, too! Also, Erica and I are going to Lydia's for Geometry tutoring." 

"You guys are weird," Scott said, leaning down to kiss Kira on the cheek.

Then, the known rumble of Derek's Camaro rolled to a stop in a spot near the back of the parking lot, at 4 o’clock, on the dot.

"Bye, creeps," Stiles said before he started walking towards Derek who was sleekly getting out of his car. 

"Hey, cutie," he greeted to Derek, smirking.

Derek blushed lightly and pulled Stiles into a hug, sticking his hands between his backpack and lower back.

"Hey... I missed you," Derek responded, while Stiles stuffed his head between Derek's shoulder and neck, breathing in the amazing smell, eyes, no doubt, glowing.

"I missed you, too," Stiles muffled.

Derek rubbed a hand up Stiles' spine, relaxing Stiles greatly, taking in a deep breath, eyes matching Stiles'.

"You smell amazing," Derek said, scenting Stiles.

"You're only saying that because I smell like you."

"I like you smelling like me- us. It shows other wolves you're taken. Mated,” he said, resting his forehead against Stiles’.

Stiles blushed embarrassingly at that.

"Why are all the girls and Isaac watching us so closely?" Derek asked, not moving from his position.

"They want to see us kiss for some weird reason," Stiles sighed.

Derek chuckled and slowly lost his smile as he got lost in looking at Stiles' soft pink lips.

"Oh my god! You're just as bad as them!" Stiles declared, smiling.

"Maybe a little bit."

Nonetheless, the two leaned in and connected their smiling lips in a kiss that sent a tingle through both of their bodies.

They heard cheers come from the peanut gallery, but Stiles decided to ignore them all together. 

All that mattered was him and Derek.

Stiles reached up and carded his fingers through the short hair on the back of Derek's neck, pulling him closer. Derek pulled Stiles' hips closer to his, trying to take things a bit further. They kissed like that for a hot minute until they heard a smiling Scott yell, "Get a room, you two!"

Finally they broke apart, only to have Stiles rest his forehead on Derek's once again, leaning his body into his mate's. Derek held him tight and Stiles thought he could stay like that forever.

"You wanna go back to the loft?" Derek proposed softly.

Stiles just nodded.

-

They heard the sound of the Camaro roll up and heard Stiles call, "Bye Creeps," before making his way to his _boyfriend._

"Oh my god, it's happening," Erica announced excitedly.

"I still don't understand why he couldn't drive himself," Scott commented.

"It's called being a nice boyfriend; dropping off and picking the other up," Allison explained rather patronizingly. 

"So he picked Stiles up from his house to drop him off here? That makes no sense," Isaac added.

"No, idiot. Stiles stayed over last night," Erica said.

"Why?"

"Oh my god, stop talking. I can't hear with you talking," Erica deadpanned, overly annoyed.

_"Hey, cutie"_

Erica: "Oh my god, stop it right now."

_"Hey... I missed you."_

Lydia: "I want someone to hug me like that."

_"I missed you, too."_

Allison: "Their eyes are glowing together. I hate myself."

_"You smell amazing."_

_"You're only saying that because I smell like you."_

Lydia: "Oh my god! Make it stop."

_"I like you smelling like me- us. It shows other wolves you're taken. Mated."_

Scott: "Okay, even I have to admit that's pretty cute."

Kira: "Awe! Stiles is getting all blushy."

_"Why are all the girls and Isaac watching us so closely?"_

Erica: "ABORT, ABORT, WE'VE BEEN FOUND."

_"They want to see us kiss for some weird reason... Oh my god! You're just as bad as them!"_

Lydia: "Do it, do it, do it."

_"Maybe a little bit."_

Isaac: "OH MY GOD THEY'RE KISSING."

Scott: "Jesus, Isaac. Calm down. You're worse than the girls."

Isaac: "You just used the word 'cute' to describe them a second ago."

"Get a room, you two!" Scott yelled, trying to contain his masculinity. 

They watched as the two separated feeling sad _for_ them. The pack saw them drive away, while they lamented their love lives, before Lydia finished the moment by declaring, "I feel depressed now."

-

"I talked to Deaton today." 

"Yeah?" Stiles perked up.

"Yeah. He seems to think we need to be sleeping together from now on," Derek said lightly.

"Yeah?" Stiles repeated, rather seductively, reaching across the car to run his hand down Derek's arm.

"Not like that," Derek replied, laughing.

"Okay," Stiles said softly, looking lovingly at his partner. "I mean, I already asked Dad if I could stay over tonight, so I'm one step ahead of you, buddy."

"Did you now?"

"I did... and he said it was fine."

"Good, because I missed you a lot today."

Stiles blushed and looked at his hands, as he picked at a hangnail on his thumb.

Derek reached over and squeezed Stiles' thin fingers, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Are you alright?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Just got a lot on my mind."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

Stiles paused for a minute, just looking at his mate. "No... I'm fine." 

Derek pulled the car over onto the graveled road and turned to look at him. "Speak."

"I thought I was the one that was supposed to be making the dog jokes."

"Very funny. I'm serious," Derek pressed.

Stiles gathered his thoughts for a minute, looking down at where Derek was holding his hand tight, encouraging him.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Derek said softly.

"I know," Stiles said, breathing out a rush of air that was pressuring his chest.

"Then what's wrong?" Derek asked, brushing his thumb along the back of Stiles' hand.

"I just... I feel like you're letting me off the hook for something really big here."

"And what's that?" Derek replied, taking Stiles' cheek in his left hand.

"I lied to you. For days. I didn't tell you the truth and you... were right there, willing to hear anything. And I was running around finding ways to hide this from you. Hell, I had the whole pack helping me keep this a secret. And you just kept showing up, making sure I was okay... And I _still_ didn't tell you. I feel really guilty and it's driving me crazy. I feel awful, Der. Like I don't deserve yo-" 

Derek began shushing him, soothingly as Stiles started sniffling back tears that were ready to form.

"Stop it, okay? Don't talk like that," Derek said as he started rubbing his thumb over Stiles' cheek bone, cleaning away invisible tears. "When did you get the mark?" he asked quietly.

"Friday."

"Why didn't you want to tell me?"

"I was scared. Scared that you didn't love me. _Wouldn't_ love me and that the universe made a mistake... I loved you and I tried to hide it, I tried to pretend it wasn't there, but it was. For _years,_ Der. And then- and then-" Stiles started breathing heavily.

"Stiles, breath. You're hyperventilating. You need to breath."

Stiles kept taking quick short breaths. He felt the car getting smaller and his chest clenching in pain as it got tighter.

"Stiles, look at me."

He looked in his eyes through his tear spotted ones.

"That's it. Breath with me, okay?"

His breaths were still weighted, but they were slowing down, his mate comforting him.

Derek, with Stiles' cheeks in the palms of his hands, rested his forehead against his mate's. They both closed their eyes and just breathed for a moment as Stiles relaxed.

"I didn't think I could ever have this," Stiles said.

He looked down into Derek's hands, like he was trying to cower away, but Derek didn't let him.

"Hey, I _love_ you." 

That got Stiles' attention again, looking back into Derek's green eyes with glassy eyes and rather pale skin.

"I've loved you since the day I met you. It just took me a while to realize it, but It's always been you. _Always._ I don't care that you didn't tell me, because we're here now and that's all that matters. All that matters is that you're here, in my arms and you love me, too," Derek said desperately.

"I do. I do love you," Stiles responded as a tear fell down his cheek. Derek quickly leaned forward and removed the tear with a kiss, making Stiles sniffle loudly and suck his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Then everything else... are just details," Derek said looking into his eyes, shining with unshed tears. 

Stiles leaned forward and kissed him gently and sweetly. 

"Let's just get back to my place, okay?" Derek asked, running his dry hands over Stiles' arms.

Stiles nodded.

-

They were only a few minutes from the loft; minutes in which Stiles spent holding Derek’s hand tightly and staring at him lovingly. 

Once they were there, Stiles, leaving all his things in the car, latched onto Derek's side on the way up the elevator. Derek's arm was around his hip and Stiles had his head on Derek's shoulder. Derek just ran his hand up and down Stiles' side and kissed his head.

Stiles sniffled out, "I don't know why I'm so tired and needy all the sudden. I'm sorry."

Derek tightened his hold on the teenager, not letting him go. "Don't. I like it."

Stiles' cheeks pinked at the confession but hugged his side tightly again anyway.

"I think it's the bond. Deaton said if we're apart for too long, you'll get tired and kind of... clingy. It won't be too bad for me because I'm an alpha, but it's going to be hard for you for a little while."

"That's not fair," Stiles whispered into Derek's neck.

Derek smiled softly, "I know."

The elevator dinged open, and the two shuffled through, still linked together. 

"Do you wanna lay down for a little while?" Derek asked quietly.

Stiles nodded, feeling the effects of his short panic attack.

Derek kicked off his shoes and bent down taking Stiles' off. 

Stiles just lifted his limbs and let himself be taken care of. 

When Derek stood back up he chastely kissed his neck and cheeks. It wasn't sexual and he wasn't asking for anything, he just wanted to show how much he loved him. Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, hugging him. The older man just rubbed his hands up Stiles' warm back and kissed his neck soothingly. 

Eventually Derek whispered, "Come here," and grabbed Stiles' hand pulling him to the couch. 

Derek sat down and maneuvered his mate to lay down with his head in Derek's lap under a blanket. Derek ran his hand through Stiles' unstyled hair, causing Stiles to hum and close his eyes. Derek turned on the TV to a low volume and made himself comfortable watching old reruns of SVU while he placed one hand over Stiles' heart as he ran the other through his irresistibly soft hair gently.

Stiles was out in no time and Derek stayed exactly where he was, content in just being near him.

After a while Derek fell asleep sitting up on the couch, with his head tipped back, listening to the sound of his mate's heartbeat in sync with his own.

-

When he woke up it was seven and the loft had darkened greatly. The only light that filled the room was the moon spilling through the windows, illuminating Stiles' beautifully sleep-flushed face. 

He noticed that Stiles' hand had found it's way up to his chest to hold Derek's in his.

Derek smiled.

He watched the rise and fall of Stiles' chest and listened to the steady thrum of his heart.

As if Stiles had a radar on Derek's activity, he awoke slowly, eyelashes fluttering open to reveal his magenta eyes that glowed in the night.

"Hey, baby," Derek softly spoke.

"Hi," Stiles barely made a sound, but Derek's super hearing helped him out. 

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked.

"Better," he answered biting his bottom lip.

Derek looked into his eyes for a moment before leaning down to press a kiss on his mate's warm cheek. He tried pulling away, but Stiles got a firm grip on the front of his black shirt keeping him where he was. 

Stiles lifted his head up slightly to kiss him, causing both of them to gasp as Stiles pushed his tongue directly into Derek's mouth.

Suddenly Stiles was clambering to sit up, moving to straddle the wolf, never breaking the fierce kisses they were exchanging. 

Derek ran his hands up Stiles' thighs and groaned when Stiles grinded down into him, sending sparks through their bodies.

Stiles placed kisses up Derek's neck and bit down on his earlobe when he reached it, making Derek's hips jolt up involuntarily and his eyes to glow.

"Mmmm, I want you so bad," Stiles moaned into his ear.

Derek pulled his mates shirt off, throwing it somewhere behind him, and bit his lip at the newly exposed, mole-freckled skin. Derek growled, wide awake, and flipped Stiles over to lay flat on his back. He started grinding into his mate as he bit down on his neck and started sucking hickeys here and there.

Stiles held Derek's face while he abused his neck, utterly turned on. 

"Everyone was looking at my neck all day. I loved it. They all knew I was taken. They all knew I was _yours._ "

Derek started softly kissing up his neck as he was making a content rumbling sound deep in his chest.

"You're purring again," Stiles smiled.

"No, I'm not," Derek insisted.

"Yes, you are." 

"No. I'm not."

"Keep telling yourself that, Wolfie. But I can hear you loud and clear," Stiles joked as he pulled Derek in to kiss him again.

Derek relaxed into the kiss and kept the pace going of their clothed crotches rubbing together.

Stiles was a panting mess beneath him. 

" _Derek,_ " he whimpered out as Derek moved his kisses lower and lower.

Derek made his way down his neck, to his chest, his stomach, his navel and finally to his jeans where he stopped short, sending Stiles into a whine.

" _Please,_ " he begged.

Derek pulled Stiles' hand from where he was gripping in to the edge of the couch roughly and kissed the tips of each of his fingers. He made his way to his palm and up his arm as his lover watched with hooded eyes and parted lips. He continued up his arm until he met his shoulder and opted to whisper into his ear, "I love you," breathily. 

Suddenly quiet, Stiles let Derek pick him up, legs wrapping around his waist and arms hooking around his neck, carrying him to bed. Derek laid him down and let Stiles move until he was on the center of the bed. He wiggled out of his jeans and underwear as Derek removed all of his clothes slowly. The light from the moon made Derek look even more beautiful doing so. The white color illuminated his skin, making his back muscles almost glow under the light as they tensed and bulged.

Derek turned to look at him lovingly. "What?" he asked in the deep, rich voice.

"You're so beautiful."

Derek paused for a moment, looking dreamily at his mate and then walked slowly to the bed never looking away and just leaned in, grabbing his chin to look in his eyes. He kissed him softly on the lips. No force, no bruising, just gentle, complete devotion.

Stiles thought he was going to melt.

He held Stiles's face in his hands, stroking his thumb over his cheekbones and kissing him so tender that it made him want to cry.

Derek pulled away only a few centimeters and watched as his mate's eyes fluttered open, eyelashes quivering. His eyes were a slightly reddened pink as they gleamed in the moonlight and Derek thought that he'd never seen something... _someone_ so beautiful. 

"I love you so much," Derek whispered.

"You know how mushy we're being right now?" Stiles asked.

"I don't care," Derek replied seriously.

"We can _never_ be like this in front of the others," Stiles claimed as he leaned back on the bed.

" _Never,_ " Derek accepted, smiling.

Stiles smiled into their kiss. He ran a hand from where it was sitting around Derek's neck, down his chest, torso and wrapped around his dick, making Derek break their kiss as his breath hitched, collapsing slightly, resting his forehead on Stiles' shoulder.

Stiles resisted the urge to smirk smugly, seeing the effect he had on his mate while he pleasured him.

Derek flung his hand around the bedside table, not looking, to find the small bottle of lube he stored there.

Now Stiles was really smiling.

"Looking for something?" he asked innocently.

"Shut up," Derek commanded, through his fangs.

"Wow, you're really taken aback right now," Stiles said humorously. "Fangs and everything."

Derek retaliated by biting behind Stiles' ear, pulling his fangs back momentarily, making him lose his smile and make his face scrunch in pain/pleasure. 

The moan he made was absolutely sinful.

"Wow... You're really taken aback right now." Derek quoted, whispering into Stiles' ear.

Stiles just chuckled breathily and flipped the older man over onto his back, straddling him and practically attacking him with fiery kisses. 

Suddenly a lubed and warm finger made contact with his quivering hole, making him moan and push back into the feeling. Stiles bit his mate's jaw roughly, making Derek growl and shove a second finger. Stiles to turned to putty on top of him.

As if it was clockwork, Derek found his prostate easily, causing Stiles to absolutely lose it and give up on all prepping and slowly slide into Derek's member.

He winced and hissed slightly with the pain, but there was no way he was giving up that easily. He paused momentarily to breath a bit, but was back to work as soon as possible. He panted as he started grinding into Derek, human nails scraping down his chest. 

Derek honestly looked like he was in pain, but the real pain was him trying not to come in an instant.

Stiles tried to slow down to ease him of being on edge, but once he stopped, Derek just grabbed his hips and began hammering into him. It was like he had memorized where to hit to make him go crazy. 

Derek flipped them quickly and was slamming into him repeatedly without a second of leeway. 

" _Please,_ " Stiles begged, looking close to tears.

Derek leaned down as he was hitting that perfect spot and bit down on his shoulder with his human teeth, sending Stiles screaming and coming between them.

If the tight heat of Stiles wasn't enough, the way he clenched around his dick when he came, was enough to send Derek toppling behind him, coming deep into his lover.

They stayed quiet for a minute, Derek over Stiles, looking into each other's eyes, as their breathing evened out. 

Stiles ran a hand up and down his mate's arm, loving the feeling of him being near.

"Can I ask you something?" Stiles asked quietly.

"Of course," Derek answered, pulling out gently and laying next to him.

Stiles scooted over and laid half on top of Derek, limbs tangled underneath Derek's navy comforter.

"Are you my boyfriend?" he asked seriously.

"What?" Derek asked genuinely confused.

"Are we boyfriends? Because Kira and the others are calling us that and... we never really put a label on us, other than mates."

Derek just hugged Stiles closer and said, "Obviously," before kissing him again.

"Good. We were gonna have a problem if you said no," Stiles said laughing slightly.

Derek smiled as he moved Stiles around pressing his back to Derek's front, facing them towards the windows. Stiles quickly grabbed Derek's hand and laced it in his own, while Derek pressed his nose into the side of Stiles' neck, scenting him. 

They both laid together, looking out the windows, running gentle hands over each other softly. The glow of the moon peered over the two, illuminating the room as they stayed linked together. 

"I wish I could stay here forever," Stiles whispered, eyes glued to the moon.

"Me too," Derek agreed, squeezing his mates warm hand. 

"I love being with you," Stiles said honestly.

Derek pulled Stiles' hand up, kissed the back of it and replied, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles huffed out as his eyelids fell heavy and sleep overtook him.

Derek took a moment and wondered how the hell this kid could sleep this much, but, nonetheless, let him sleep and held him close as he did.

-

Stiles woke slowly a few hours later, reaching around his stomach and side, in search for Derek's arm but came up cold and wanting. He sat up and noticed the empty bed and the warm blankets that had been wrapped around him by presumably, Derek. 

He got up and walked over to Derek's dark dresser, finding a pair of black sweatpants and a too-big graphic tee shirt to pull on. He paused for a moment to pull the collar of Derek's shirt to his nose and close his eyes at the musky smell of his _boyfriend._

He missed him already.

He padded around the cold loft, looking for his mate, until he heard the telltale sound of pans clinking, leading him to the kitchen. 

He saw Derek standing in front of the stove cooking something in multiple pans and humming slightly, bringing a soft smile to Stiles' lips. He could spend the rest of his life watching Derek like this; so domestic and happy.

He walked up behind his love, hugging him from behind and putting his forehead between Derek's shoulder blades, closing his eyes. Derek didn't jump and never faltered his cooking, other than taking one hand and rubbing it over Stiles' that were locked around his torso. 

"What are you making?" Stiles asked quietly.

"Spaghetti," Derek answered, stirring the red sauce gently.

"I didn't even know you cooked," Stiles pondered.

"My mom taught me when I was young... I used to stand in the kitchen and watch her work when she made dinner... and by the time I was in high school, I could make basically anything."

Stiles smiled at his boyfriend talking about his family. He knew it was hard for him. 

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, but you can have a seat- it's almost done," he answered clicking the stove off.

"Okay," Stiles said, kissing Derek's neck before reluctantly pulling away to have a seat at the table.

A few moments later, filled with Stiles just watching Derek work, completely in awe, Derek handed Stiles a bowl of the most delicious looking pasta he had ever seen. 

The first bite he took almost made him cream his jeans it was so good. He made a huge moan, making Derek smile and ask, "Good?" 

"Amazing."

Derek just blushed and smiled.

-

After they both finished eating, they washed the dishes together in comfortable silence. They were both yawning and feeling absolutely exhausted, but Stiles had the perfect way to wake up his boyfriend.

Stiles had a _plan._

As they started to walk down the hall, back to bed, Stiles stopped for a second and quickly grabbed Derek's face, kissing him deeply. Derek couldn't help but kiss back. They continued kissing until Stiles backed him up so Derek's back was flat against the brick wall.

Stiles started trailing kisses over the other's body while slowly grinding their hips together. The friction between the two was enough to make Stiles' eyes roll back... but this wasn't about him- this was about pleasuring his amazing boyfriend, who had went to all the trouble of making him dinner this late at night.

Suddenly Stiles was on his knees in front of Derek slowly unbuttoning his pants and pulling the zipper down with his teeth. 

Derek almost came at the sight of those big brown eyes looking up at him innocently as he pulled Derek's hard-as-a-rock dick out of his boxer briefs. 

He gave it a few strokes as he confessed, "I've never done this before, so go easy on me."

"You've never done this before? _Shit._ Really doesn't seem like it," Derek breathed out in lust and honesty. 

Stiles grinned slightly as he tongued a long stripe up the underside Derek's cock, making the older man let out a big exhale, staring at the ceiling.

"Look at me, baby. I wanna see your eyes," Stiles said.

Derek looked down with deep pink eyes, and protruding fangs, looking completely fucked.

"Keep looking at me."

Stiles mouthed at the top of Derek's cock, sending small dribbles of pre-come out and into Stiles' mouth. Stiles moaned at the sensation and immediately took all of Derek's dick into his mouth, gag reflex barely there. 

Derek threw his head back, banging it on the bricks and groaning like a bitch in heat. "Fuck, Stiles."

He kept bobbing his head, trying not to smile at the reaction he's pulling out of his mate.

"I'm gonna come," Derek warned.

"Come in my mouth," Stiles requested.

Just that sentence sent him coming, luckily shoving his dick back into the beautifully heated mouth in time. 

Stiles swallowed it all with a smug smile on his face as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Derek shrugged back onto the wall, chest heaving, while Stiles tucked him back into his jeans and zipping them up. He trailed kisses up the werewolf's chest and met his lips in a heated kiss, Derek tasting himself of Stiles' lips. 

Derek made quick work of shoving the younger man into the wall to take his place and reaching into his pants and jerking Stiles' dick to completion. 

With his chest heaving, Stiles leaned up to kiss his boyfriend hard on the lips. 

He whispered in his ear, "I love you so much," and grabbed his hands to drag him into the dark bedroom they had vacated, with a small smile on his lips. He pulled a slow Derek into the bed and under the blankets, his back against the wolf's chest again. Derek held him tight, a safe feeling washing over Stiles. 

He could stay in those arms forever.

_THE END of “This is Where it All Begins...”_


End file.
